#Sicily

Nov 3

WINE OF THE WEEK: Donnafugata La Bella Sedàra 2019, Sicilia, Italy

£14.99, Waitrose We've been hearing so much about the wines of Etna, not to mention Sicily's nimble, red-fruited Frappato, that it's easy to forget that the island's most widely planted red grape variety, and the one that dominates its only DOCG, Cerasuolo di Vittoria, is Nero d'Avola. Like Cerasuolo di Vittoria, La Bella Sedàra is a blend driven by Nero d'Avola, but instead of Frappato there are small amounts of Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and a few other varieties in

Sep 8

WINE OF THE WEEK: Loved & Found Frappato 2021, Terre Siciliane, Italy

£7.99, Waitrose Everything about this nimble, light-bodied Sicilian red wine is cheery and crowd-pleasing, from the juicy fresh fruit – cherry vying with raspberry vying with strawberry – to the lick of pepper and herbs, the barely-there tannins, the refreshing freedom from oak and the soft, dry finish. Because it should be served lightly chilled, it’s the kind of red wine that seems perfect for uncomplicated summer drinking, but really it works at any time of the year. I can

Jul 28

WINE OF THE WEEK: Forza della Natura Orange Catarratto 2021, Terre Siciliane, Italy

£9.99, Waitrose If you've yet to fall for an orange wine, try this hazy gold, unfined and unfiltered organic example from Sicily. It's very much at the gentler end of the orange wine spectrum, with aromas of chamomile, fresh and dried apricot, orange peel and green tea and a textured palate with a refreshing, orangey, softly spicy flavour. It's very good value too. The vines grow high up in the Alcamo hills in northwest Sicily and the wine is made in a winery down in Marsala,

Feb 24

WINE OF THE WEEK: Colpasso Appassimento Nero d'Avola 2020 Sicilia, Italy

£7 on offer (normally £9), Morrisons This Sicilian red is new to the UK and a snip at the introductory price of £7 until 15 March. Even at £9 it's good value – dark, ripe and super-smooth with a tumble of black cherry, plum, kirsch and toasted vanilla flavours, gentle grip and a streak of Italianate agrodolce. It's made from hand-picked Nero d'Avola grapes, a proportion of which are dried, some of them left on the vines to dry, others dried on racks for about 15 days to lose

Jan 6

WINE OF THE WEEK: Santa Tresa Cerasuolo di Vittoria 2018, Sicily, Italy

£10.99–£14.89, Costco, The Wine Society, Ocado, Vintage Roots, Cheers, Amazon A delicious, distinctive and original red wine seems a positive way to start the new year. That Santa Tresa's organic Cerasuolo di Vittoria is outstandingly good value and a magician when it comes to matching food only adds to its lustre. Cerasuolo di Vittoria, Sicily's only DOCG (the top tier in Italy's wine classification system), is a small but varied region – topographically, geologically and cl

Oct 28, 2021

WINE OF THE WEEK: Planeta l'Amistanza Fiano Grecanico 2020, DOC Sicilia, Italy

£10, Tesco A crowd-pleasing and pleasingly characterful unoaked dry white from deservedly fashionable Sicily, with peach, pear, herb and citrus flavours, a smooth, rounded texture and preserved-lemon and grapefruit-peel grip. Neither of the two grape varieties is native to Sicily – Fiano is from Campania and Grecanico is better known in the north as Garganega, the principal variety of Soave – but both are at home on the island and they make a good partnership, Fiano giving we

Jan 28, 2021

WINE OF THE WEEK: Nero Oro Grillo Appassimento Sicilia 2019, Italy

£8.99/£9.99, Majestic Winemakers in southern Italy have been using the appassimento tecnique to make their red wines smoother and more concentrated, but a white given the treatment is a rarity. Perhaps it won’t be once more producers taste this Sicilian Grillo – a mouthwatering riot of passion fruit, candied grapefruit peel, pineapple, dried pear and spiced apricot, with succulent texture and pivotal acidity. The man behind the wine is the ever-creative Stefano Girelli, who h

Nov 26, 2020

WINE OF THE WEEK: Santa Tresa Rina Russa Frappato 2019, Terre Siciliane, Italy

£9.99–£10.75, Ocado, Vintage Roots I recommended an earlier incarnation of this organic wine a few years ago as a perfect spring red. In August this year, in searing heat, I had the 2019 and thought it was the ideal summer red. I've just had it again on a dark, chilly November evening and come to the conclusion that it's a delicious all-seasons red. With its gem-bright, pale colour and medium body, it doesn't have that hearty winter look, but trades it for suppleness, freshne

Aug 22, 2018

Inspiring island wines: reds from Sicily and Sardinia

Update, September 4, 2018: the Etna Rosso and Barbazzale are now out of stock, so the mixed case is no longer available, but the rest of the wines are, as is the Etna Bianco that was my wine of the week. The offer runs until Sunday September 9. I've added a food note to the Frappato. This week's Wine of the Week is an Etna Bianco, made from indigenous grape varieties grown in the mineral-laden volcanic soils of Mount Etna at 700–750m. It's on The Wine Society's main list but

Aug 16, 2018

WINE OF THE WEEK: Nicosia Fondo Filara Etna Bianco 2017, Etna, Sicily, Italy

£12.50, The Wine Society This mouthwatering, mineral dry white combines two of my enthusiasms: wines from volcanic soils and island wines. They come together on the slopes of Etna as they do on the Greek island of Santorini, but Etna has its own grape varieties, red as well as white. The whites are steered by the high-quality, late-ripening Carricante, filled out here with Sicily’s most widely planted white, Catarratto, both planted at 700–750m. Aside from the mineral charact

Oct 29, 2015

WINE OF THE WEEK: Zensa Nero d’Avola 2013

£10.50, Oddbins, oddbins.com Love the retro label, love the wine - a full-on, spicy, cherry-scented red that will go down a treat (as they say) on Halloween or bonfire night and equally well on a more formal occasion. It's made from vines grown without chemical pesticides or fertilizers, hence both the name Zensa, the Italian pronunciation of sensa, the word for 'without', and the liberal sprinkling of organico, vino biologico and agricultura biologica across the label. Nero