Palmento: A Sicilian Wine Odyssey by Robert Camuto

Robert Camuto, an American whose father was born and grew up on the north slope of Etna, writes about visiting family winemakers all around Sicily. Once upon a time, every farm/family had a palmento for pressing grapes (with their feet), fermenting the must, and aging the wine in barrels. The EU has declared it illegal (for hygiene reasons) to sell wine made in a palmento, changing the face of winemaking in Sicilia completely.

The book motivated me to take a week-long trip to Sicily. I used Palmento as a guide and can vouch for how well Camuto describes the people, the wine and the personalities of both.

Here are a few photos I took of a palmento on Mt. Etna, the giant screw used to press the last of the juice out of the grapes, and the barrels for storing and aging the wine.
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To order from Amazon, click on the book below.

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