At sunset, a warm breeze moves across the terrace at Scirocco. It is the wind the bar is named after, sweeping up from North Africa, crossing the Mediterranean and eventually reaching Sicily.
At Verdura Resort, a Rocco Forte Hotel in Sciacca, the scirocco is woven into the bar itself, from the interiors to a cocktail list shaped by the flavours and ingredients of the island. The wind has even found its way indoors, dressed in warm woods and earthy terracotta, while artist Phyllis Claire Smith has covered the walls with a graphic depiction of the scirocco in motion. Follow it across the room and it leads naturally toward the terrace, where the real thing can be felt coming off the sea as the sun begins to drop. Order a drink at that hour and the thinking behind the bar suddenly makes sense.
Scirocco Cocktails Inspired by Sicily
The cocktail list, overseen by Bars Manager Cristian Concari and Assistant Bar Manager Giampaolo Girgenti, is just as Sicilian. Sun-ripened citrus, aromatic herbs, hand-picked botanicals and small-batch liqueurs appear throughout the menu, alongside ingredients harvested from the gardens at Verdura Farm. In “Lava & Limone”, a Sicilian agave spirit flavored with bay leaf is mixed with a Pesca Tabacchiera liqueur, Syracuse lemon and agave syrup.
Sicily is both in the name and the glass: volcanic references on one side, bay leaf and citrus on the other, with agave providing an unexpected link to Mexico. “Blood and Sage” heads in a darker, more herbaceous direction, pairing vodka and Sicilian citrus amaro with mandarin, sage and myrtle liqueur. Both drinks make the same point in different ways: locality here has less to do with reproducing familiar Sicilian flavors than with finding new uses for them behind the bar.
From Farm to Glass, from the Agave Garden to Cocktails
Agave also plays a role beyond cocktail hour. “From Farm to Glass” experience begins among the blue agave plants in Verdura Resort’s new garden, then continues in one of the villas with an agave cocktail masterclass and tapas. The experience brings the agricultural traditions of Italy and Mexico together while showing guests something rarely visible once a cocktail lands on the bar: where its ingredients begin. But Scirocco is at its most persuasive around sunset. The light softens, the terrace fills and the wind picks up from the Mediterranean. Inside the bar, Smith’s artwork follows its movement across the walls; outside, you can feel it for yourself. By then, with a Sicilian cocktail on the table and the wind blowing in from the sea, the bar hardly needs to explain its name.
The article first appeared on Coqtail – for fine drinkers. Order your copy here
Images courtesy Verdura Resort, a Rocco Forte Hotel
