Between sips and pages: nine wines, a coffee and many books for Easter

The Tenacious of Tenute Ballasanti

Andrea Camilleri – The saga of Inspector Montalbano

On the slopes of Etna in the Chiusitti district of the Catania town of Mascali, Il Tenace by Tenute Ballasanti was born from 100% carricante grapes, a new Sicilian winery founded by Manuela Seminara and Fabio Gualandris. After aging on the lees for 60 to 90 days with weekly bâtonnage, the wine has a straw yellow color with bright green reflections. The nose describes a harmony of floral, balsamic and fresh hay aromas. On the palate it is generous, sapid and enveloping with fruity and mineral notes. The volcanic character with a strongly Sicilian imprint of Il Tenace finds its right representation in the literature of Andrea Camilleri . Inspector Montalbano 's temperament and his passion for food and wine evoke the Etna features, the strength and the gustatory richness of the company's wine proposal.

Price: starting from 30.00 euros

Unda Vermentino di Sardegna DOC by Bentu Luna
Grazia Deledda – Reeds in the wind

Among the whites of Bentu Luna , Gabriele Moratti's oenological project in central Sardinia, the first born is Unda Vermentino di Sardegna DOC . Straw yellow in colour, the nose reveals elegant floral, fruity and mineral notes which are accompanied by an interesting acidity in the mouth. On the palate it is also soft and sapid. This wine is named after the waves of the sea, agitated by the breezes that echo both in the name of the Neoneli estate and in those of the reds Sobi and Susu . The island of the Four Moors is the setting of Canne al vento , a 1913 novel in which the Nobel prize winner for literature Grazia Deledda sketches unforgettable images of rural Sardinia: an ancestral and primitive world projected into a mythical and timeless dimension.

Price: 17.00 euros in the winery's online shop

Brolo dei Giusti Custoza Superiore DOC from Cantina di Verona
William Shakespeare – The Two Gentlemen of Verona

Cantine di Verona presents the Custoza Superiore DOC Brolo dei Giusti , the result of a careful selection of Cortese, Garganega, Tocai, Incrocio Manzoni and Chardonnay grapes. Straw yellow in color with golden reflections, the nose has mineral hints with a floral background and notes of hazelnut and butter. On the palate it is fresh, characterized by an enveloping texture, and the hints of wood are well integrated. It is long and intense, with a fruity apple character and a long and mineral finish, with an excellent retro-olfactory persistence. It is a wine with clear potential that confirms expectations if left to age , to be sipped while scrolling through the pages of The Two Gentlemen of Verona , a comedy by William Shakespeare set between the city of Verona and Milan, where the themes of love, friendship and of the gentleman's upbringing are intertwined in an engaging storyline.

Price: 19.00 euros in company stores

Cecchetto's Raboso del Piave
Giacomo Mazzariol – My brother chases dinosaurs

The Cecchetto winery with its Raboso del Piave talks about people, solidarity and support for the community. A story of social sustainability suitable for a reading that makes you think. In My Brother Chases Dinosaurs, the author and protagonist Giacomo Mazzariol has been able to lightly but effectively narrate the story of his family and his brother Giovanni, suffering from Down syndrome, who expresses joy, strength and an always positive attitude despite the obstacles everyday. Uniqueness, vigor and a sometimes difficult character that refer to the native red grape variety of the Marca Trevigiana.
Cecchetto's Raboso del Piave , like Giovanni, takes time to reveal the best of itself. Intense ruby red colour. Full, ample, pleasant bouquet, reminiscent of morello cherries, wild blackberries and violets. Dry, austere flavour, with tannins and acidity pleasantly ennobled by the alcohol content which make the sip refreshing and dynamic. The finish is long and persistent. At the table it finds the best pairings with stewed or braised red meats and game.

Price: starting from 15.00 euros

Broy of Collavini
Italo Svevo – Zeno's conscience

Elegance, consistency and continuous attention to quality in a glass. Broy di Collavini , a blend of Friulian, chardonnay and sauvignon , takes its name from broili, a term used to describe a small vegetable garden typical of Friulian houses of the past. Of a saturated straw yellow color with soft green reflections, it is intense and persistent on the nose with notes of ripe tropical fruit, acacia honey, orange peel and yellow flowers. In the mouth, its powerful and long body, soft and warm, is surprising, enhanced by a pleasant balance between freshness and minerality, pairing excellently with Italian cuisine.
Its refined complexity is combined with the great classic Zeno's conscience by the Friulian author Italo Svevo . A timeless novel that interweaves narrative and psychoanalysis, telling the story and the anxieties of Zeno Cosini.

Price: 40.00 euros

Torcolato of Maculan
Antonio Fogazzaro – Small Ancient World

Elegance, roundness and richness of aromas and flavors describe the Torcolato di Maculan . The wine emblem of Breganze comes from vespaiola grapes alone, the berries of which dry in the loft for over four months. A one-year aging in French oak barriques gives life to a wine with a brilliant golden yellow color, with a bouquet that ranges from honey to flowers, finally moving on to vanilla and noble woods. The sweetness and fullness blend with the balanced freshness typical of the vespaiola grape, making Torcolato a suitable wine at the end of a sumptuous meal such as that of Easter day.
The sumptuousness of this wine reminds us of Antonio Fogazzaro 's novel Piccolo Mondo Antico , the incipit of which opens on the dinner in the house of the Marchesa Orsola Maironi, fully describing the royalty of the narrative context.

Price: 20.00 euros in the 0.375L format

Bonomo Sexaginta Custoza Superiore DOC of Monte del Frà
Berto Barbarani - Songwriters

Never trivial, never taken for granted, the Custoza area embodies a great wealth that begs to be told. Monte del Frà does it best with the Bonomo Sexaginta Custoza Superiore DOC , born in 2018 to celebrate the sixty grape harvests of the Bonomo family. From Garganega grapes, Tuscan Trebbiano, Cortese aged in wood, the nose has notes of laurel and ripe yellow fruit, citrus fruits, white flowers, dried apricots, acacia honey and hints of incense. A territory that Berto Barbarani , el Poeta de Veron , has been able to tell with light and melancholy tones but also with a personal style in his works, in particular in the four Canzonieri.

Price: 33.00 euros

Indigo of Tenuta Sette Cieli
Giosuè Carducci – New Rhymes

"But through the streets of the village / from the boiling of the vats / the sour smell of the wines goes / the souls to rejoice" this is how Giosuè Carducci tells the wine and life in the cellar in the famous San Martino , a poem included in the collection Rime New . After spending his childhood years in the Livorno village, the Tuscan author gave his name to Castagneto Carducci, where Tenuta Sette Cieli stands today. A company active in the DOC Bolgheri which adopts the organic regime in the vineyard and respects the naturalness of the raw material.
Indaco is the noblest expression of the estate's wine production. The balance between the complexity of the hints of fruit and spices and the elegant acidity, together with the structure and the refined tannic texture, offers an enveloping tasting experience. The malbec, cabernet sauvignon and merlot grapes are harvested by hand from 10 hectares of vineyards planted at 400 m asl, for a blend with promising aging, ideal for accompanying the main courses of Easter lunch.

Price: 40.00 euros

Arabica Blend by Goppion Caffè
Toshikazu Kawaguchi – As long as the coffee is hot

A true selection dedicated to connoisseurs, a fine blend with a sweet taste and balanced aroma, soft on the palate and with chocolaty aftertastes: a cup of Arabica Blend by Goppion Caffè is the best way to start the day on the right foot. But first, a few pages of As long as the coffee is hot by the Japanese author Toshikazu Kawaguchi , to get carried away with words in a small Tokyo café and travel through time.

Price: 6.50 euros in the company shop and Goppion cafés

Capoccia Ciliegiolo Maremma Toscana DOC from Cantina Vignaioli Morellino di Scansano
Marco Malvaldi – The Briscola in Five

With a straightforward and brilliant character, fruity and very pleasant, the Ciliegiolo Maremma Toscana DOC Capoccia by Cantina Vignaioli Morellino di Scansano is perfect for the everyday table. From cherry and alicante grapes , it has a deep ruby color, a sweet and pleasant nose characterized by fresh, vinous and fruity scents. Juicy and medium structured, the taste is dry, rightly soft, well balanced by the subtle fresh note and round tannins. Perfect in combination with appetizers based on cured meats, first courses with meat sauces and meat main courses. We imagine the friends of Marco Malvaldi 's La Briscola in Cinque sipping a glass between one round of cards and another.

Price: 9.30 euros