WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.199 --> 00:00:03.439 The topics and opinions expressed on the following show are 2 00:00:03.480 --> 00:00:05.360 solely those of the hosts and their guests, and not 3 00:00:05.400 --> 00:00:08.320 those of W four WN Radio It's employees or affiliates. 4 00:00:08.439 --> 00:00:12.000 We make no recommendations or endorsements for radio show programs, services, 5 00:00:12.080 --> 00:00:15.119 or products mentioned on air or on our web. No liability, 6 00:00:15.240 --> 00:00:18.120 explicit or implied shall be extended to W four WN 7 00:00:18.199 --> 00:00:21.280 Radio It's employees or affiliates. Any questions or comment should 8 00:00:21.280 --> 00:00:22.480 be directed to those show hosts. 9 00:00:22.679 --> 00:00:34.600 Thank you for choosing W four WN Radio. 10 00:00:43.000 --> 00:00:47.159 Many of you follow my husband David Ransom and I 11 00:00:47.200 --> 00:00:52.479 as we travel throughout Sicily and Italy and Europe, and 12 00:00:52.560 --> 00:00:56.679 we love Sicily and this show is dedicated to Sicily 13 00:00:57.159 --> 00:00:59.960 because we can't get enough of it, and apparently America 14 00:01:00.039 --> 00:01:03.640 and cannot get enough of Sicily either, because there have 15 00:01:03.759 --> 00:01:08.599 been numerous shows about Sicily, White Lotus being the most 16 00:01:09.000 --> 00:01:13.920 recent that have attracted people to Sicily. But there is 17 00:01:13.959 --> 00:01:16.920 a lot of Sicily to discover and a lot of 18 00:01:16.959 --> 00:01:20.480 people just head straight to the coast. Well, my guest 19 00:01:20.519 --> 00:01:24.640 today is going to show you not only how beautiful 20 00:01:24.840 --> 00:01:28.719 Sicily is coast to coast, but where she lives is 21 00:01:28.799 --> 00:01:32.760 in the center the heart of Sicily and truly one 22 00:01:32.799 --> 00:01:37.439 of the most beautiful and pure areas I have visited. 23 00:01:37.799 --> 00:01:43.560 The winery is called Fayuda Montoni and Melissa Mueller is 24 00:01:43.599 --> 00:01:47.519 the co proprietor with her husband Fabio Suretchi. She is 25 00:01:48.040 --> 00:01:50.920 not only a co proprietor, but she had formerly owned 26 00:01:51.159 --> 00:01:55.000 a couple of restaurants dedicated to Sicilian food in New 27 00:01:55.120 --> 00:01:59.200 York and the author of a terrific book on Sicily 28 00:01:59.239 --> 00:02:03.640 called Sicil Recipes Rooted in Tradition. Having come to know 29 00:02:04.319 --> 00:02:09.919 Melissa and having visited theyd Montoni myself, we can share 30 00:02:09.960 --> 00:02:12.080 with you the fact that she is probably one of 31 00:02:12.080 --> 00:02:15.879 the most knowledgeable people on Sicilian food and culture today. 32 00:02:16.080 --> 00:02:18.159 And you are going to love this show because we're 33 00:02:18.159 --> 00:02:21.080 going to dive into and take you by the hand 34 00:02:21.360 --> 00:02:24.599 through the airwaves to Sicily so you can experience it 35 00:02:24.680 --> 00:02:27.199 and think about what you can do to enjoy Sicily 36 00:02:27.240 --> 00:02:30.560 in your home, but also plan a visit. Melissa. Welcome. 37 00:02:30.879 --> 00:02:34.080 Thank you, Melanie. It's such an honor to be on 38 00:02:34.120 --> 00:02:37.439 your show, and also I'm very touched and flattered by 39 00:02:37.479 --> 00:02:38.919 your lovely introduction. 40 00:02:39.560 --> 00:02:43.400 Well, you have an amazing background, so we always like 41 00:02:43.479 --> 00:02:46.080 to start with that you grew up in America, but 42 00:02:46.120 --> 00:02:50.919 you have Sicilian heritage, So talk about your childhood and 43 00:02:50.960 --> 00:02:54.639 your heritage and how you ended up finding that powerful 44 00:02:54.719 --> 00:02:56.719 reconnection back to your roots. 45 00:02:57.080 --> 00:02:59.560 Well, I must say that my whole life has revolved 46 00:02:59.560 --> 00:03:03.120 around either from living here now for the past ten years, 47 00:03:03.680 --> 00:03:06.639 or just when I was away or what I call 48 00:03:06.680 --> 00:03:09.960 in exile from Sicily and growing up in the New York, 49 00:03:09.960 --> 00:03:14.599 New Jersey area, where I basically dedicated everything in my 50 00:03:14.639 --> 00:03:17.599 life to the island of Sicily. From a very young age, 51 00:03:17.960 --> 00:03:21.560 I grew up coming every summer to my grandmother's village, 52 00:03:21.960 --> 00:03:25.159 which is in the province of Agrigento on the southern 53 00:03:25.199 --> 00:03:29.199 coast of Sicily, a small village called Santana, small in 54 00:03:29.199 --> 00:03:32.919 the sense there's about four hundred inhabitants. It's a direct 55 00:03:33.159 --> 00:03:37.639 contrast to Manhattan, where I grew up. Basically, the love 56 00:03:37.680 --> 00:03:40.319 of Sicily that I have comes from that young age, 57 00:03:40.520 --> 00:03:43.759 and as a child, I wanted to recreate in our 58 00:03:43.800 --> 00:03:47.280 home the perfumes and the smells and the sensations that 59 00:03:47.319 --> 00:03:50.919 I felt around Sicily. So I started cooking at a 60 00:03:51.000 --> 00:03:56.039 very young age, and my love of ingredients and recipes 61 00:03:56.120 --> 00:03:59.080 starts at that time. But Then as I grew up, 62 00:03:59.240 --> 00:04:02.080 I realized that I want to focus more on the 63 00:04:02.120 --> 00:04:06.199 culture and the food culture of Sicily, not just on 64 00:04:06.439 --> 00:04:10.560 ingredients and on cooking, but basically, what I felt was 65 00:04:10.599 --> 00:04:13.960 that food and Sicilian food was a means for me 66 00:04:14.319 --> 00:04:18.279 to understand the culture and the history of these people 67 00:04:18.279 --> 00:04:22.000 that I felt so connected with. So I started studying 68 00:04:22.279 --> 00:04:26.920 anthropology with a focus on Mediterranean food culture. And I 69 00:04:26.920 --> 00:04:30.360 say Mediterranean because I felt to understand Sicily, I needed 70 00:04:30.399 --> 00:04:33.199 to look at it in its broad context. So I 71 00:04:33.279 --> 00:04:39.360 studied all the various regions and history and culture surrounding Sicily, 72 00:04:39.399 --> 00:04:42.839 not only Sicily itself. The love of Sicily only kept growing. 73 00:04:43.240 --> 00:04:47.040 So when I finished my undergrad degree, before I moved 74 00:04:47.079 --> 00:04:50.600 on to my postgraduate degree, my goal was to somehow 75 00:04:50.759 --> 00:04:53.879 find a way to represent Sicily. I started writing, I 76 00:04:53.920 --> 00:04:58.319 started looking at different ways to do so. But September 77 00:04:58.319 --> 00:05:02.439 eleventh happened and I was torn. And so many restaurants, 78 00:05:02.480 --> 00:05:05.360 as we all know in Manhattan, couldn't make it at 79 00:05:05.360 --> 00:05:08.639 that time, and there was a very small restaurant on 80 00:05:08.759 --> 00:05:12.759 Bleeker Street, Bleeker and McDougall in the village that was 81 00:05:12.800 --> 00:05:16.079 for sale, and I came home to my father My 82 00:05:16.160 --> 00:05:19.160 father was a lawyer. His dream for me was to 83 00:05:19.600 --> 00:05:22.720 after my undergrad degree, to obviously get my law degree 84 00:05:22.800 --> 00:05:25.560 and work with him. I'm an only child, and that 85 00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:28.399 was his vision in his dream. But I knew that, 86 00:05:28.519 --> 00:05:30.800 and I felt inside me that that wasn't my calling 87 00:05:31.560 --> 00:05:35.199 and I wanted to focus on representing Sicily. I still 88 00:05:35.199 --> 00:05:39.079 didn't exactly know how, but when September eleventh happened and 89 00:05:39.199 --> 00:05:42.639 the possibility to open a restaurant, it seemed like a 90 00:05:42.720 --> 00:05:45.000 joke almost in my home, but I announced that I'm 91 00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:48.040 going to open a restaurant on Bleaker Street, and that's 92 00:05:48.040 --> 00:05:50.839 how I got involved in the restaurant business. With this 93 00:05:50.920 --> 00:05:54.519 opportunity to open very small restaurant where I cooked dishes 94 00:05:54.560 --> 00:05:56.560 that I had grown up with, it was like a 95 00:05:56.800 --> 00:06:00.000 laboratory for me, a place that I could experiment every 96 00:06:00.079 --> 00:06:03.439 thing I had studied and show people that Sicily and 97 00:06:03.519 --> 00:06:07.519 Sicilian food is not spaghetti and meatballs, is not a 98 00:06:07.600 --> 00:06:11.600 scene from the Godfather film. It's a with no disrespect 99 00:06:11.639 --> 00:06:14.639 to a film that's artistically beautiful and well made, but 100 00:06:14.839 --> 00:06:17.839 that's not what Sicily is. So I felt that that 101 00:06:18.079 --> 00:06:22.120 was my calling to change that stereotype, and in my 102 00:06:22.240 --> 00:06:25.319 small part I think I contributed to that. After the 103 00:06:25.439 --> 00:06:29.279 first restaurant, the lease had finished there and I decided 104 00:06:29.319 --> 00:06:33.519 to start my post graduate studies. At the same time, though, 105 00:06:33.720 --> 00:06:36.800 I was so driven to still be in the restaurant 106 00:06:36.800 --> 00:06:40.920 business because I loved so much this idea of representing Sicily, 107 00:06:41.160 --> 00:06:45.680 and also I enjoyed the interaction with fellow New Yorkers 108 00:06:46.040 --> 00:06:50.040 and creating relationships with people in the neighborhood and sharing 109 00:06:50.079 --> 00:06:52.839 the dishes with them and my stories about Sicily. For me, 110 00:06:52.879 --> 00:06:57.000 everything is about telling the stories and explaining the sensations 111 00:06:57.000 --> 00:07:00.959 and the emotions of Sicily. So time will take. I 112 00:07:01.000 --> 00:07:04.279 opened up a second restaurant, Aolo, which was in Chelsea 113 00:07:04.439 --> 00:07:07.240 on the seventh Avenue and twenty first Street, and then 114 00:07:07.279 --> 00:07:10.759 after that a third restaurant called Pastaill on ninth Avenue. 115 00:07:10.920 --> 00:07:13.000 What was the name of the first restaurant, signal Melissa. 116 00:07:13.279 --> 00:07:16.920 The first restaurant was called Ostidia that Galloneto. There was 117 00:07:16.959 --> 00:07:20.680 a whole story behind that, the black Rooster, which technically 118 00:07:20.800 --> 00:07:24.240 is associated with Tuscany, but it was a story that 119 00:07:24.319 --> 00:07:27.480 led back to my childhood in Sicily, and I cooked 120 00:07:27.519 --> 00:07:30.800 the dishes that I had grown up with basically, but 121 00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:33.000 it wasn't enough because I knew that in order to 122 00:07:33.040 --> 00:07:36.480 represent Sicily, I needed to keep studying, keep researching, and 123 00:07:36.560 --> 00:07:40.480 really turn back to the academic world and also a 124 00:07:40.519 --> 00:07:44.920 world where I could represent a background and the ammunition 125 00:07:45.040 --> 00:07:49.240 to be able to represent Sicily in terms of writing 126 00:07:49.279 --> 00:07:52.199 in a way that was more writing for a public audience. 127 00:07:52.480 --> 00:07:58.319 So that's where I studied at the Columbia University Journalism School. 128 00:07:58.959 --> 00:08:02.879 You know the fact that you have approached your life 129 00:08:03.079 --> 00:08:08.360 and your life calling through family, heritage, cultural anthropology and 130 00:08:08.399 --> 00:08:12.560 writing all connected through food. You know, it's interesting your 131 00:08:12.600 --> 00:08:14.519 life could be a movie. There are a lot of 132 00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:17.040 movies that have been filmed in Sicily, and what you 133 00:08:17.399 --> 00:08:20.360 said that kind of was interesting to me is growing up, 134 00:08:20.480 --> 00:08:23.720 the image of Sicily was not always positive. You know, 135 00:08:23.800 --> 00:08:27.040 The Godfather wonderful movie, but you know it's about the mafia, 136 00:08:27.680 --> 00:08:32.720 and you know, Sicily was portrayed as poor, corrupt, beautiful, 137 00:08:32.799 --> 00:08:37.639 but there were problems and unfortunately it also translated to 138 00:08:37.960 --> 00:08:41.519 other aspects of business there. Obviously, the mafia, as I 139 00:08:41.679 --> 00:08:44.759 learned because we went to the No Mafia Museum in Palermo, 140 00:08:45.000 --> 00:08:48.960 did have an ironclad control over Sicily until finally it 141 00:08:49.000 --> 00:08:51.960 was driven out it's sadly somewhere else, but and a 142 00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:54.960 lot of I also learned they have these wineries that 143 00:08:55.000 --> 00:09:00.000 were recaptured and reclassified that were formerly owned by the money. 144 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:04.679 There was a huge amount of change that happened Sicily 145 00:09:04.919 --> 00:09:08.799 during this time, and during your research also underwent a 146 00:09:08.799 --> 00:09:12.440 bit of a revolution in terms of coming to Reckoning 147 00:09:12.480 --> 00:09:15.559 with itself as a place to visit and its industry 148 00:09:15.679 --> 00:09:19.039 in the wine industry for sure, in the tourism and others. 149 00:09:19.080 --> 00:09:22.919 A lot of things changed to help change that image. 150 00:09:22.960 --> 00:09:26.200 And thankfully more and positive things are being shown and 151 00:09:26.200 --> 00:09:28.960 written about Sicily, and the movies are great, and everybody's 152 00:09:28.960 --> 00:09:31.120 saying in Indiana Jones And as you did your reason, 153 00:09:31.159 --> 00:09:33.960 what did you learn that changed about Sicily? What stay 154 00:09:34.039 --> 00:09:36.000 the same, but also what changed for the good? 155 00:09:36.679 --> 00:09:39.639 Well, I remember we could just go back a little 156 00:09:39.639 --> 00:09:42.559 bit to when I had the second restaurant. I opened 157 00:09:42.600 --> 00:09:45.799 up the restaurant saying it's a Sicilian restaurant with classic 158 00:09:45.919 --> 00:09:50.320 Sicilian dishes and the wineless that was only exclusively Sicilian. 159 00:09:50.600 --> 00:09:54.480 And now we're talking about twenty ten, twenty eleven, and 160 00:09:54.600 --> 00:09:56.600 at the time I would say about half of the 161 00:09:56.600 --> 00:09:59.480 people that came would get up from the table, go 162 00:09:59.519 --> 00:10:02.799 to the near liquor store and purchase a bottle of 163 00:10:03.159 --> 00:10:07.120 Chianti or Brunello or a wine that was non Sicilian 164 00:10:07.159 --> 00:10:11.240 and come back to pay the corkage fee because they 165 00:10:11.240 --> 00:10:14.919 were so uninterested in what I mean. It was amazing, 166 00:10:15.360 --> 00:10:19.240 and I was very discouraged initially because I said, I 167 00:10:19.279 --> 00:10:22.879 want to only represent Sicily and here people don't even 168 00:10:23.039 --> 00:10:26.600 want to try the Sicilian wines. Then after the first 169 00:10:26.600 --> 00:10:30.240 few years, there was this major shift because all of 170 00:10:30.279 --> 00:10:34.559 a sudden, Sicilian wines became the wines to try. The 171 00:10:34.600 --> 00:10:38.200 media was full of talking about Sicilian wines, especially with 172 00:10:38.360 --> 00:10:41.759 giving a focus to Edna, and all of a sudden 173 00:10:41.799 --> 00:10:44.840 things changed and people would come and search out the 174 00:10:44.879 --> 00:10:48.039 restaurant just because I had the Sicilian wine list. And 175 00:10:48.080 --> 00:10:51.360 I found that very interesting because it really is something 176 00:10:51.399 --> 00:10:54.600 that reflects also the tourism of today. It's the re 177 00:10:55.440 --> 00:10:59.720 creating of what Sicily is. And like you said, there's 178 00:10:59.759 --> 00:11:03.279 the show that the White the White Lotus that's contributed 179 00:11:03.320 --> 00:11:05.320 to a lot of tourism. It's the way that it's 180 00:11:05.399 --> 00:11:09.240 now being represented, and it's completely different than the what 181 00:11:09.360 --> 00:11:12.159 I had studied and what I had put together from 182 00:11:12.440 --> 00:11:16.000 the past decade of of what houses to house, Sicily 183 00:11:16.200 --> 00:11:20.360 was represented. So I think that today there's such a 184 00:11:20.440 --> 00:11:24.120 major fluctuation of tourism to the islands and everyone wanting 185 00:11:24.200 --> 00:11:28.759 to come here. However, it's the coastal areas that get 186 00:11:28.799 --> 00:11:31.879 the tourism. Where we live is in the center of 187 00:11:31.879 --> 00:11:34.720 the island, where our farm is, where in the mountains 188 00:11:34.759 --> 00:11:37.759 of the center of Sicily, and it's absolutely an area 189 00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:40.840 where tourists don't come, but you do see people come 190 00:11:41.200 --> 00:11:45.320 that want to explore, that want to really get to 191 00:11:45.399 --> 00:11:48.399 know what the old Sicily was and is today. 192 00:11:49.200 --> 00:11:51.320 Well, I've actually spent more time in the center of 193 00:11:51.320 --> 00:11:54.320 Sicily than in the coasts because I'm blessed to go 194 00:11:54.360 --> 00:11:58.279 on wine trips that have taken me there. You met 195 00:11:58.320 --> 00:12:00.799 your husband, you were buying his wine, right. 196 00:12:01.200 --> 00:12:05.120 What happened was I was researching for my book and 197 00:12:05.200 --> 00:12:08.519 I wanted to visit wineries in different areas. For example, 198 00:12:08.759 --> 00:12:12.000 I didn't know that Sicily has nine provinces. I knew 199 00:12:12.039 --> 00:12:14.360 my area of Sicily. I had, of course done so 200 00:12:14.440 --> 00:12:17.440 much research, but I really needed to get to know 201 00:12:17.559 --> 00:12:20.480 first hand all the different areas in order to be 202 00:12:20.519 --> 00:12:23.320 able to represent it in a book form. Because Rizzoli 203 00:12:23.399 --> 00:12:26.759 said to me, can you write an encyclopedia about Sicilian cuisine, 204 00:12:27.279 --> 00:12:31.559 to which I answered no, because an encyclopedia would take 205 00:12:31.600 --> 00:12:34.799 one hundred volumes and multiple lifetimes. But I can write 206 00:12:34.840 --> 00:12:37.600 a good summary of what it is. But in order 207 00:12:37.679 --> 00:12:40.720 to do that, I realized that I needed to really travel, 208 00:12:40.840 --> 00:12:43.480 and with the restaurants, it wasn't easy, but every two 209 00:12:43.480 --> 00:12:45.919 months I would leave and come to Sicily for ten 210 00:12:46.000 --> 00:12:50.200 days and do very intense research trips. So if I 211 00:12:50.200 --> 00:12:53.039 would go to an area that I didn't know where 212 00:12:53.080 --> 00:12:56.200 the best honeymaker was or where the cheese was made, 213 00:12:56.240 --> 00:12:59.399 I would stop first at the different wineries. So I 214 00:12:59.480 --> 00:13:02.399 visited so many wineries, of which I had the wines 215 00:13:02.440 --> 00:13:05.759 at my restaurant with failed in Montoni. I was introduced 216 00:13:05.799 --> 00:13:08.879 to the wines. The first time I tried the Rucara 217 00:13:08.879 --> 00:13:12.639 and Nero Davola was through master of wine Bill Nesto 218 00:13:12.799 --> 00:13:16.000 and his wife Francis di Savino, who wrote the World 219 00:13:16.039 --> 00:13:19.519 of Sicilian Wine, And as they were releasing the book, 220 00:13:19.600 --> 00:13:22.240 they came to eat at my restaurant and brought me 221 00:13:22.279 --> 00:13:24.679 a bottle, and they were enjoying a bottle of the 222 00:13:24.720 --> 00:13:27.240 wine at their table and had me taste it with them, 223 00:13:27.480 --> 00:13:31.200 and I remember feeling that it was so different, this freshness. 224 00:13:31.200 --> 00:13:34.080 It didn't feel like a Sicilian wine. So I was 225 00:13:34.159 --> 00:13:37.639 very struck by it, and I had to come to Montoni. 226 00:13:37.639 --> 00:13:39.679 I knew that sooner or later that was part of 227 00:13:39.720 --> 00:13:43.559 my agenda for my research for the book. And my husband, 228 00:13:43.960 --> 00:13:46.360 of course at the time, wasn't my husband. He kept 229 00:13:46.399 --> 00:13:49.759 saying no, because when the importer at the time would 230 00:13:49.799 --> 00:13:51.879 say there's someone writing a book, he would say, well, 231 00:13:51.919 --> 00:13:53.639 I don't you know, I really don't have time because 232 00:13:53.679 --> 00:13:56.679 he's very hands on on the farm in the vineyards. 233 00:13:56.759 --> 00:14:00.159 And for about two years that meeting never happened, and 234 00:14:00.360 --> 00:14:02.039 I didn't know he was saying no. I didn't even 235 00:14:02.039 --> 00:14:05.120 know he was the didn't know he was here. I 236 00:14:05.360 --> 00:14:08.000 just knew it was failed to Montoni that I was visiting. 237 00:14:08.200 --> 00:14:12.200 And that day, of course changed my life because my 238 00:14:13.080 --> 00:14:16.720 first moment of meeting him was also my first moment 239 00:14:16.799 --> 00:14:20.279 of meeting failed to Montoni and meeting the land of 240 00:14:20.320 --> 00:14:23.480 failed to Montoni, where I felt that I just couldn't 241 00:14:23.559 --> 00:14:26.440 leave and I fell in love with him, which took 242 00:14:26.639 --> 00:14:29.039 time of the two of us getting to know each other. 243 00:14:29.279 --> 00:14:31.240 It was love at first sight that it was getting 244 00:14:31.279 --> 00:14:33.519 to know each other over a long period of time, 245 00:14:33.759 --> 00:14:38.279 especially from a distance, but Montoni was That feeling of 246 00:14:38.320 --> 00:14:41.600 seeing Montoni could never never leave my heart. And I 247 00:14:41.639 --> 00:14:44.759 remember one day he said to me, after about a 248 00:14:44.840 --> 00:14:47.440 year and a half of us knowing each other through 249 00:14:47.480 --> 00:14:50.360 telephone calls and through multiple visits for the book, he 250 00:14:50.399 --> 00:14:53.000 said to me, if you really want to visit for 251 00:14:53.039 --> 00:14:55.679 the harvest? Because I expressed a desire to come to 252 00:14:55.960 --> 00:14:57.919 visit for the harvest, He said, the only way to 253 00:14:58.039 --> 00:15:01.960 understand what that even means is to spend three hundred 254 00:15:01.960 --> 00:15:05.440 and sixty five days a year and to live every 255 00:15:05.679 --> 00:15:09.039 day on the farm and to understand the culmination which 256 00:15:09.080 --> 00:15:12.000 is this harvest. And of course it was a love 257 00:15:12.080 --> 00:15:16.159 proposal on his end, but it was so true because 258 00:15:16.399 --> 00:15:20.240 every day counts into what goes into the great harvest, 259 00:15:20.399 --> 00:15:23.879 the wines being made, and to this sale of the 260 00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:26.840 wines that we craft here. So I'm glad I took 261 00:15:26.879 --> 00:15:28.279 him up on his offer. 262 00:15:28.639 --> 00:15:30.759 And how long ago was that, Melissa. 263 00:15:31.360 --> 00:15:33.960 It was about a decade ago, nearly close to a 264 00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:36.039 decade ago at this point now. 265 00:15:36.080 --> 00:15:38.559 And the pun Tooni is like one of the most 266 00:15:38.799 --> 00:15:43.120 ancient wineries in Sicily. You're talking about quite old, dating 267 00:15:43.159 --> 00:15:45.799 to fourteen sixty nine, so we're in it. And the 268 00:15:45.879 --> 00:15:51.200 property is an estate, a beautiful estate that you've lovingly 269 00:15:51.440 --> 00:15:55.240 kept renovated or it's an ongoing love of renovation, as 270 00:15:55.279 --> 00:16:00.240 we saw them move there. How did Babia's found they 271 00:16:00.279 --> 00:16:03.320 come to own Fyoda Montani. 272 00:16:05.120 --> 00:16:08.559 Well, like you said, the wideries founded in fourteen sixty nine, 273 00:16:08.679 --> 00:16:12.399 and it was founded by a noble family. At the time, 274 00:16:12.600 --> 00:16:16.679 Sicily was under Aragonese rule. It passed hands many times, 275 00:16:16.720 --> 00:16:22.720 always within the aristocratic realm, and the owner prior to 276 00:16:22.759 --> 00:16:28.559 Fabio's grandfather was a baron who was the Cardinal of Catania. 277 00:16:30.120 --> 00:16:36.559 He also owned lands on Edna and around around Syracuse, 278 00:16:36.639 --> 00:16:42.919 Syracusa Syracuse, and he sold the property to my husband's 279 00:16:42.919 --> 00:16:46.840 grandfather in the late eighteen hundreds. Basically at the time, 280 00:16:46.960 --> 00:16:50.320 this was right after unification of Italy, and there was 281 00:16:50.360 --> 00:16:56.440 a major decadence and fall of the aristocratic class and 282 00:16:57.399 --> 00:17:01.200 the rise of the bourgeois class of the working class 283 00:17:01.240 --> 00:17:07.559 of of of Sicily. So it was possible at that 284 00:17:07.640 --> 00:17:13.200 time for and what happened often was large faiotos, which 285 00:17:13.200 --> 00:17:16.960 are failed me comes from the word feudalism. So basically 286 00:17:17.039 --> 00:17:21.720 of the basically where large expanses of land we were 287 00:17:21.799 --> 00:17:26.480 under control, under the control of one owner, he became 288 00:17:26.759 --> 00:17:32.200 he became the owner of the land and basically then 289 00:17:32.240 --> 00:17:36.799 he passed that into the hands of my father in law. 290 00:17:36.920 --> 00:17:40.480 And then now the third generation is is Godvil. 291 00:17:40.400 --> 00:17:43.599 And this is uh. The wines are extraordinary, and I'm 292 00:17:43.599 --> 00:17:46.440 going to underscore that. You do not tasted a lot 293 00:17:46.440 --> 00:17:51.160 of Sicilian wines, and universally everybody goes wow because there 294 00:17:51.200 --> 00:17:53.920 is such a sense of place. And when you're sipping 295 00:17:53.920 --> 00:17:56.720 the wines of Foto Montoni, you're sipping a sense of place. 296 00:17:57.880 --> 00:17:59.720 But that also goes to everything there. Because we had 297 00:17:59.839 --> 00:18:03.079 lunch with you as the food was you did this 298 00:18:03.200 --> 00:18:06.720 amazing Sicilian lunch. I'm still thinking about it because I'm 299 00:18:07.000 --> 00:18:09.640 craving the foods of Sicily right now on wines, which 300 00:18:09.759 --> 00:18:13.359 once I said before we started going on air, we're 301 00:18:13.440 --> 00:18:15.200 kind of in a food desert here when it comes 302 00:18:15.240 --> 00:18:18.319 to certain types of food where we're living temporarily right now. 303 00:18:18.720 --> 00:18:23.400 What percentage of your working farm is dedicated to your vineyards, 304 00:18:23.440 --> 00:18:25.680 but also what else do you cultivate? Because you are 305 00:18:25.720 --> 00:18:28.200 a full working farm and it is all hands on. 306 00:18:28.759 --> 00:18:31.400 It's all very hands on here on the farm. A 307 00:18:31.559 --> 00:18:34.359 third of the land is dedicated to the vineyard, so 308 00:18:34.400 --> 00:18:37.000 you can imagine it like the vineyard in the center, 309 00:18:37.799 --> 00:18:42.079 and then it's surrounded by a ring that is grain 310 00:18:42.160 --> 00:18:46.000 fields that we rotate with lagoon fields like lentils and 311 00:18:46.079 --> 00:18:51.880 like chickpeas. All the grains we only grow heritage grains. 312 00:18:52.279 --> 00:18:55.839 I should also say that we're very rigorously an organic farm, 313 00:18:56.480 --> 00:18:59.400 so that is very influential on our decisions of what 314 00:18:59.440 --> 00:19:03.480 we grow, how and how we grow them. So hence 315 00:19:03.480 --> 00:19:06.440 the heritage grange, which which do very well in organic. 316 00:19:07.160 --> 00:19:12.039 We also cultivate tomatoes and with the grain we make pasta. 317 00:19:12.599 --> 00:19:15.240 We also have olive groves. So I could go on 318 00:19:15.319 --> 00:19:18.480 and on. There's many different realities here on the farm, 319 00:19:18.519 --> 00:19:22.480 but yet everything is run by Fabio and I with 320 00:19:22.559 --> 00:19:24.680 a lot of love and a lot of time and 321 00:19:27.119 --> 00:19:28.720 all of our energy put into it. 322 00:19:29.119 --> 00:19:31.519 How do you dividing up your recession's abilities because you're 323 00:19:31.559 --> 00:19:33.880 also you also are parents to two young children. 324 00:19:34.279 --> 00:19:39.680 Yes, we're parents to Ellio and Francesco, who are three 325 00:19:39.839 --> 00:19:42.279 years old and one year old respectively. Through not even 326 00:19:42.319 --> 00:19:48.720 three Elio and they just thrive on the farm. You 327 00:19:48.720 --> 00:19:51.160 can imagine we have a beach home and we could 328 00:19:51.240 --> 00:19:54.680 be at the beach every day. And of course Fabio 329 00:19:54.680 --> 00:19:56.720 and I want to be on Fabio and I want 330 00:19:56.720 --> 00:19:59.359 to be on the farm, and we want to check 331 00:19:59.359 --> 00:20:01.839 the vindear to day and check the fields and be 332 00:20:01.880 --> 00:20:05.359 a part of it actively. And we don't want to 333 00:20:05.759 --> 00:20:07.680 we don't want to manage it from afar. That's not 334 00:20:07.720 --> 00:20:10.240 what we what we intend to do. But you could 335 00:20:10.240 --> 00:20:13.519 see even in Elio, who is so young, but he 336 00:20:13.559 --> 00:20:15.799 loves it. He doesn't care about being at the beach. 337 00:20:15.880 --> 00:20:18.359 He wants to be in the land and on the 338 00:20:18.359 --> 00:20:20.839 farm and with his little hoe in the vineyard. Or 339 00:20:21.960 --> 00:20:26.880 today he helped us, be helped in what he could do, 340 00:20:26.960 --> 00:20:29.759 but he helped us with loading a container of wine 341 00:20:29.799 --> 00:20:34.200 that was leaving for New York. And it's just beautiful 342 00:20:34.240 --> 00:20:38.240 to see his being so active and excited about being 343 00:20:38.720 --> 00:20:42.400 part of the farm. 344 00:20:42.519 --> 00:20:45.599 Well, I want to touch on the wine and the food. 345 00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:48.079 I'm going to start with the wine because I actually 346 00:20:48.720 --> 00:20:52.079 your wines are widely available in the United States and 347 00:20:52.119 --> 00:20:54.319 we taste it through many and you have I mean, 348 00:20:54.359 --> 00:20:56.920 what's interesting is there are vines that are pre phyloccera. 349 00:20:57.240 --> 00:21:01.680 I mean, you know, very old vine wines. For someone 350 00:21:01.759 --> 00:21:08.240 who listeners who may be somewhat familiar with Sicilia wines, 351 00:21:08.599 --> 00:21:12.799 let's talk about a few of the wines. Most, because 352 00:21:12.799 --> 00:21:16.680 Wilson Daniels is your importer and I'm on the site, 353 00:21:16.799 --> 00:21:21.559 are available here. But let's talk about some given your 354 00:21:21.640 --> 00:21:25.880 location in Sicily. But some of the wines are that 355 00:21:26.119 --> 00:21:29.720 set you feel set feud to Montonia part Obviously, I 356 00:21:29.759 --> 00:21:32.920 reference the prefiloza vine, the Vercora Brucaro, which is. 357 00:21:32.880 --> 00:21:39.119 One sure, so the Prefiloxa vines are. It's very interesting 358 00:21:39.160 --> 00:21:42.720 because these are vines that were on the property when 359 00:21:42.799 --> 00:21:46.720 my when Fabio's grandfather purchased the land in the end 360 00:21:46.720 --> 00:21:50.920 of the eighteen hundreds, so they are very old vines 361 00:21:50.960 --> 00:21:56.359 that still produce and actually produce a fair amount of grapes. 362 00:21:56.400 --> 00:22:03.240 There Netto Davola grapes and we have some pre Philoxa vines. 363 00:22:03.279 --> 00:22:07.839 Of all of the different types of grapes that we 364 00:22:07.880 --> 00:22:09.920 grow on the property, the only one that we have 365 00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:13.400 an abundance of or two hectores of that we can 366 00:22:13.440 --> 00:22:14.839 bottle is the Neto davola. 367 00:22:14.920 --> 00:22:21.200 But there's also cateralto and in Zolia and Petticne and 368 00:22:21.400 --> 00:22:27.200 Nello Mascales interestingly enoughales because. 369 00:22:27.039 --> 00:22:31.039 Of course it's it's associated with Etna. Correct, But those 370 00:22:31.160 --> 00:22:35.680 vines were brought here when the Cardinal of Catania who 371 00:22:35.720 --> 00:22:38.359 owned the lands, the prior owner, when he owned the 372 00:22:38.440 --> 00:22:42.240 lands on Itna, he had an agronomist who worked for him, 373 00:22:42.359 --> 00:22:46.680 and the agronomist was also a priest father Nellia, which 374 00:22:46.720 --> 00:22:51.240 interestingly means fog in Italian. He would go back and 375 00:22:51.279 --> 00:22:54.880 forth with vines from here, which the nea is known 376 00:22:54.880 --> 00:22:57.960 as calabrese, and he would bring those Calabrese vines to 377 00:22:58.640 --> 00:23:01.680 the Edna and then Siracus area, and he brought ned 378 00:23:01.680 --> 00:23:06.759 alo mascales here. Interesting, and today we produce wines that 379 00:23:07.400 --> 00:23:11.759 are from vines that were grafted off the Prefiloxada, the 380 00:23:12.200 --> 00:23:16.880 Prefiloxa nedal mascales and vines. It's very unusual and it 381 00:23:16.960 --> 00:23:20.240 has a different expression here than it doesn't, but it 382 00:23:20.279 --> 00:23:25.200 has maybe a little less austere, a little more floral notes. 383 00:23:26.279 --> 00:23:28.799 You can feel it's ned aalo mascales. You can see 384 00:23:28.799 --> 00:23:31.839 it in the color and in the and in the 385 00:23:31.839 --> 00:23:34.160 the body and the style of the wine. But it's 386 00:23:34.880 --> 00:23:38.119 but definitely has some notes that that distinguish it from 387 00:23:38.200 --> 00:23:42.200 being a ned Ala Mascaleese from Edna. And we we 388 00:23:42.680 --> 00:23:47.519 finally started bottling that that wine because my husband was 389 00:23:47.519 --> 00:23:50.559 a little bit he wasn't so sure about doing so. 390 00:23:51.000 --> 00:23:53.559 He didn't want to be in competition with with Thattna. 391 00:23:53.839 --> 00:23:56.200 But it was the wine that his father always unified 392 00:23:56.319 --> 00:23:59.519 and loved to drink. He said, my father in law 393 00:23:59.519 --> 00:24:01.559 would say, I love it because it's a wine that 394 00:24:01.599 --> 00:24:05.599 doesn't stain the glass. And now fifty years later, we're 395 00:24:05.640 --> 00:24:08.119 making that wine that doesn't stain the glass. And we 396 00:24:08.240 --> 00:24:11.759 called it Terre di Elio, which means the lands of Elio, 397 00:24:12.039 --> 00:24:14.759 which was my father in law's name, but it's also 398 00:24:14.799 --> 00:24:18.960 our first son's name. And the first vintage we've unified 399 00:24:19.119 --> 00:24:21.920 that we commercialized, I should say, because every year we 400 00:24:21.920 --> 00:24:24.160 always made a little of it, but the first vintage 401 00:24:24.160 --> 00:24:27.599