Gozo, Malta, magical atmosphere, on the balcony of the Porto Vecchio, a young chef with great ambitions, and in the glasses my wines Doc Orcia and Brunello

Chris Cassar – Donatella Cinelli Colombini – Carlo Gardini

This is the official debut of my wines on Ulysses and Calypso’s isle, an old and beautiful place. Here my husband Carlo and I have a house and feel very much at home. The new importers Attard – Abraham’s Suppliers have begun di distribute my wines in September and are very enthusiastic. Chris Cassar, the owner of the restaurant is now in fact a friend. So I really feel among family here and every thing begins in the best of ways.

The event is organized for 60 people and takes place on the balcony overlooking the sea at Porto Vecchio: there are some Danes from a boat moored not too far away, an English ex magistrate, a super wine expert who has a home here, an Australian with vines down under, the menu includes 22 delicious dishes so the dinner presents itself really sumptuously

At the beginning fish entrees and then meat with a filled worthy of the best Tuscan tradition. Chris has a young chef who has lightened the traditional recipes enriching them with new aromatic hints. In other word the Maltese cuisine in the new millennium.

And then my red wines, elegant harmonious to be matched with great meat

Gozo- Porto Vecchio –dinner with Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s wines

dishes in a perfect marriage. The Cenerentola Doc Orcia and the Brunello 2006 Prime Donne were a great success! Even with the mid summer temperatures, the refined balance of my wines wins and convinces. They are liked mostly by the more demanding, who follow new trends and privilege elegance compared to powerfulness.

Among photographs, and toasts the evening finishes in a party.

How beautiful Gozo is!

Gozo – Porto Vecchio - MarcoVella

Seen for you by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

Abraham Said- and his wife

Here Calypso kept Ulysses for seven years. She offered him immortality but he preferred to return to Penelope and set off on a raft

Malta - Gozo - Qala - panorama from our terrace

Sarkozy came here to regenerate after his first presidential campaign. My husband and I come here often, and we have a house here. In some place the Island is still the uncontaminated paradise seen by Omero’s hero, other places; unfortunately see new constructions and decadent older buildings ruin the landscape. However on the whole Gozo is a magic place.

Plus, it is unrivalled: where else can you find a place that is reachable in just over an hour’s flight, where already in march it is possible to sunbathe, there is no crime, and those who are sick can benefit from a health system among the best in the world …. Not too mention the 7000 years of history, of the monuments, the lifestyle halfway between European and African… the countryside is cultivated on terraces with fields divided by walls on a rocky and hilly land. The coasts fall perpendicularly into the sea and are indented, with gullies similar to the Norwegian fiords. The effect is breathtaking. After five years and many trips we are still surprised.

Malta- Gozo- Qala- Donatella and Carlo’s home -lounge

We are also fascinated by the bakers, who hand make the bread, mixing the dough in small majolica basins, the women sew with their bobbins

On the doorstep , their passion for horses –sometimes they live on the first floor of the houses and they lean out of the windows -, we like the fish that arrives directly on the fishing boats….. We also have an excellent importer – Attard – and when we go to eat out we even find our Brunello on the wine list. What more could we want? In other words we love Gozo

Seen for you by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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It is an old stone farmhouse, with arches and a central courtyard complete with lots of wells. The view is spectacular, you can see Malta, the tiny island of Comino with it’s blue lagoon

Donatella Cinelli Colombini in Gozo

The sea is only 800 meters from the house, there is a small bay called Hondoq Bay where the  locals and visitors alike go en masse to have a barbecue. This sandy beach for some people would not be idyllic, occasionally we have even found jellyfish in the water, but along this rocky coast you can go for a walk and hear only the sounds of the sea and smell the scent of thyme and wild oregano.  For me it is perfect!

This is a wonderful place.  We seem to have gone back hundreds of years in time.   In our village, some of the old houses are still inhabited by traditional farmers and there is one farmer who still keeps his flock of animals in the cellar of his house. Fortunately none of them have any horses, in other villages on the island, the horses are regarded as normal inhabitants of the ground floors of the houses!. All around us there are vegetable gardens and small fields cultivated with vegetables, all bordered by stone walls and huge fig trees from India. Our house has two floors, the lower floor originally was used as stables and the feeding troughs and the carved rings where the animals were tethered are still visible. Two of the floors have antique floral designs which  are obviously handmade. The ceiling in the living room is original and very beautiful, it has four arches which hold the stone slabs of the ceiling in place.

On the first floor there are two bedrooms, one is for me and my husband Carlo and one is where we hope to Violante

Violante's bedroom

 will sleep.  Here in Gozo there is only one place to go dancing and that is only open at the weekend.  Because there is very little nightlife here my daughter prefers to go to the sea in Puglia. But we adore Gozo and we come here at least five time a year.

We have many friends here and often organize dinners serving Tuscan cuisine.
The meals are nothing special because we are not outstanding chefs, but we like to spend time with our friends and we enjoy entertaining. Here in Gozo there are some excellent restaurants  with young foreign chefs who offer excellent cuisine and which help to raise the reputation of the rest of the local restaurants. The areas which offer the best restaurants are close to the docks where the ferry to Malta collects it’s passengers. There are 4 excellent places which we recommend, Porto Vecchio, Tmun, Sicilia Bella and Barracca.

The courtyard

But what, you may ask, is so beautiful about a tiny island sandwiched halfway between Europe and the Arab world? The truth is that it is a lovely location and it is easy to imagine that you are not in Italy but some more exotic place whilst at the same time it is only a short ride home.

Recently, we have obtained a new importer and our Brunello, Chianti and Doc Orcia wines will be served at the best restaurants in the Maltese archipelago.  His name is  Attard and it will definitely be the number one here. This is the final touch which will make us feel completely at home here.

Donatella Cinelli Colombini