“My nonno told me he could see the camels in Tunisia when he was younger,” says Salvatore Murana. I’ve come to meet Pantelleria’s wine king up here on the Mueggen plateau, but Salvatore doesn’t want to talk about maceration or varietals; he wants to deliver a eulogy to his beloved island, which bobs in the Mediterranean between Sicily and Tunisia.
He claims this is the navel of the world, and while that might not be scientifically verifiable, what’s certain is that Pantelleria is a place where Europe meets Africa. Closer to Tunisia than Sicily — 37 miles and 62 respectively — this volcanic island, known as the ‘black pearl of the Mediterranean’ for its inky cliffs, has long been multicultural thanks to its strategic location.
