The town of Pantelleria
Local products from Pantelleria
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"Zibibbo" grapes - "Moscato" wine
Introduced by the Arabs during their domination, grapevine cultivation and the production of raisins developed soon in the whole island.
Until the middle of nineteenth century the production of grapes was of marginal importance for the local economy. In the course of years, by improving the productive techniques finally a high quality production was reached.
The zibibbo is the most cultivated grape in the island of Pantelleria. The name comes from the Arab word zibib that exactly means grape.
The cultivation technique is of Arabic origin too, and it has demanded the construction of thousands stone walls in order to create the farming terraces: to the end of Summer you can see the grapes fruits which are dried under the warm sun of the Mediterranean in order to produce an optimal raisin.
Several and important are the wines that, even if all made by using the zibibbo, are remarkably different. The "Moscato" wine of Pantelleria has got a dark yellow colour tending to amber-coloured and it's got a strong taste. The "Passito" wine, with amber colour, has a remarkably wide and dence fragrance, sometimes like dried figs, candied fruits and dates.
Another interesting wine produced from "zibibbo" grapes is the "Bianco di Pantelleria".
Pantelleria, island situated in the middle of the Mediterranean, thanks to its privileged position is the perfect place for various species of the Mediterranean flora like the caper.
Caper has a woody trunk, while the upper parts, the branches, are herbaceous. It reaches a medium height of 30-50 cm, it has got plump, oval shape and dark green leaves, white and pink flowers.
Between the end of May and the beginning of september, they pick up button-flowers before blooming and that they become unusable for gastronomic uses.
As a matter of fact capers are just the button-flowers, not still open, picked up as soon as germinated.