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The WINE WRITER: George Medovoy
ANEGADA, HOME OF SEA GRAPE WINE, IS ONE ISLAND THAT
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS MISSED!
By George Medovoy
ANEGADA, BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS - I could give you dozens
of reasons to visit the British Virgin Islands, lovingly
known as the BVI: friendly people, miles of soft, sandy
beaches, some of the best sailing in the Caribbean.
But there's another important reason -- it's Anegada, one
of the 60 island of this British territory that rise up out
of the turquoise waters like stepping stones created for
some primeval giant.
While the rest of the BVI is volcanic and mountainous,
Anegada, by contrast, is a flat, coral reef, missed by
Christopher Columbus when he discovered these islands in
1493. Measuring 11miles long by three miles in width,
Anegada is only 27 feet above sea level - probably the
reason they named it Anegada, or "sunken island" in Spanish.
For quiet seclusion, Anegada is THE place: just you ands
the island's 180 permanent residents, some pink flamingos,
wild orchids and rare rock iguanas. Wine enthusiasts will
appreciate Anegada for its sea grapes (Coccoloba uvifera),
which grow profusely near beaches on plants about eight feet
high. From these grapes, the islanders make sea grape wine,
a traditional favorite for the Christmas holidays.
We set out for Anegada one glorious morning from Beef
Island Airport,
which is located on the principal island of Tortola. Our
10-minute flight on
Gorda Aero Service's nine-passenger Cessna afforded a
great view of some of
the islands of the BVI, most of which remain uninhabited.
Looking down from
the clear skies, we imagined pirates of yore playing
hide-and-seek behind the
mountainous islands.
Is there any doubt why more sunken galleons lie off the BVI than anywhere
else in the Caribbean?
Nowadays, the only sailing here is wonderful, in
everything from large
catamarans and trimarans with plush staterooms to more
basic two-passenger
sailboats that one can rent, with or without a skipper,
on Tortola.
As we approached Anegada form the sky, our pilot pointed
out Virgin Gorda
Islands, where giant, odd-shaped bolders at a secluded
beach called "The
Baths" create hidden pools in the green water.
We landed at Capt. Auguste George Airport, which is all
of one landing
strip and a solitary, little terminal building with one
telephone…and not a
single living soul around! Anegada's "official" tour
guide, middle-aged
George Anthony Smith - "Tony" for short - shortly showed
up at the airport in
his van.
Tony was born on the island and has always lived here. We
doubt he will
ever leave. After all, why would you want to leave
paradise?
Off we went down the island's dirt road, past a handful
of colorful,
simple homes and plenty of open space, for Loblolly Bay,
a sandy beach where
Aubrey Lettsome operates the open-air Loblolly Beach Bar
and Restaurant.
At Loblolly Beach, sea grape plants grow in the sand.
Hanging in bunches,
the grapes look every bit like ordinary wine grapes. But
on closer
inspection, they are a lot different, with large pits
that make them seem
more like olives than grapes. The grapes are mauve in
color when ready to
pick in December.
Making sea grape wine, brandy and jelly is a popular
pastime on Anegada.
Lettsome offered us a taste of his own sea grape brandy
under his
thatched-rood bar. The golden liquid carries a real
punch! Sea grape wine and
brandy constitute a kind of "cottage industry" on Anegada
- everyone seems to make it, but it's rare to come by any hard and fast
recipes.
What I gathered was that, in general, people fill a
gallon jug with a
small percentage of water, one cup of alcohol per jug,
some local spice, and
the grapes will make sea grape brandy. In making either
brandy or wine, the
grapes are not crushed.
"You have to give the grapes at least two to three years
in the jug,"
said Lettsome, " so you can really feel the character of
the grape."
The
rather dry, golden-colored liquid is more like a
fortified wine than a
brandy, but the islanders feel they can call it whatever
they like.
Both sea grape brandy and wine are traditional favorites
here at
Christmas time, when islanders go from house to house
serenading and toasting
their neighbors.
Lettsome, a third-generation, guitar-playing Anegadan,
entertains
guests with joyful West Indian melodies. His restaurant
serves lobster, ribs
and conch, a popular BVI shellfish with a decorative
shell.
"Entertainment
makes everyone happy," said Lettsome.
"That's the way I look at it. I have fun everyday that I
meet different
people. I try to get them out of stress and show them
love and understanding."
Free of stress, thanks to Lettsome's sea grape brandy and
a swim at the
beach. we said good-bye and jumped into Tony's van again
for a short drive to
Lowell Wheatley's Anegada Reef Hotel at Setting Point for
more stress-free
fun.
Wheatley's hotel has 16 air-conditioned rooms; its
restaurant features
barbecued ribs, chicken, fish and lobster.
Wheatley, cooking on the beach, favors a converted
54-gallonoil barrel
with local wood. The barrel is cut in half, allowing for
a hinged top.
"There's no comparison," he said, "to cooking on an open
wood fire in the old
West Indian way. We take the wood, burn it down to coals,
and then cook on
the coals."
We dined on tasty fish, lobster and rubs,
plus deep-fried
potatoes, salad and Wheatley's specialty, delicious
ratatouille made with
eggplant, zucchini and tomatoes, richly flavored with
spices.
By meal's end, clouds had opened up with a warm, gentle
downpour, sending
everyone running for shelter under Wheatley's
thatched-roof bar.
Well, what
better way to end our meal than with a "Pink Smoothie,"
made with Pusser's
Rum - a BVI product and official rum of the Royal Navy -
nutmeg, and other
ingredients Wheately wouldn't divulge.
Next stop: Pam's Kitchen and Bakery, on the water between
Pomato Point
and Setting Point, where a husband-and-wife team,
originally from Oregon,
sells chutney, jellies, papaya hot sauce, and chocolate
chip cookies from
their small blue-and-white shop under a row of palm
trees.
All along, we were curious about the possibility of
boredom on the
island.
"No," said Tony, our diminutive guide, "we're
happy with what we have
here. We have a little action going on now and again. We
go to dances at
evening time, mostly on weekends. We have get-togethers
and we have good fun."
PLANNING YOUR TRIP:
General information:
British Virgin Islands Tourist
Board,
call
1-800-835-8530
or visit www.britishvirginislands.com.
Getting there:
by air, from Miami via San Juan Puerto
Rico to Beef
Island, Tortola, or from Miami via St. Thomas, U.S.
Virgin Islands,
connecting via ferry for a 40-minute ride to Road Town.
The BVI is a British territory. A U.S. passport is
required. Currency is
the U.S. dollar. Climate: averaging 80-90 degrees and can
be slightly humid.
Winter season: Dec. 16-April 15; summer: April 16-Dec.
15. Total population,
17,000, most of it on Tortola.
Other principal islands:
Virgin Gorda, Jost
van Dyke, each with about 200 permanent residents.
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