Sicily Wine Tour
David is currently in the process of setting up a new arm of our Unique Wine Safaris. This time on the beautiful Italian island of Sicily, with our Sicily wine tour
He investigated some beautiful venues for accommodation, including two Agriturismo’s that have actual wineries on-site, run by noble families. If these work out to be a viable option they will be the perfect places for our clients to stay whilst on a Unique Wine Safari in Sicily. (and we won’t mind staying there either!)
The hard work continues to pay off and this trip encompassed visiting 18 cantinas, 5 Agriturismo’s, over the whole of Sicily covering 1,500 miles over just 5 days! Don’t say we don’t thoroughly research our ventures!
Starting in Pozzallo in the South and visiting the area of Vittoria and Ragusa, then travelling on up towards Catania on the East coast and then the impressive, active volcano, Mount Etna, standing at an incredible 3,329m (10,922ft) (that was smouldering at the time of the visit!) all the way around Etna and then over to the far West of the island and the beautiful provinces of Palermo and Trapani.
Both regions of Palermo and Catania are serviced well by low cost airlines such as Ryanair from major UK airports, so getting there and back will be a breeze.
Local wines were the main source and some truly excellent examples were discovered including local Sicilian varietals such as Nero d’Avola, Pignatello, Frappato, Cerasuolo (Reds) and Grillo, Insolia, Catarratto (Whites) including some excellent examples of European varietals including Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah.
Places of interest include many of the famous castles, Greek temples, Monreale Cathedral, landmarks and museums spread around the country.
Some of the ancient wineries visited had some of their own history, including original wine press rooms, loving restored to their former glory to illustrate how wine was made centuries ago.
We hope to have this Unique Wine Safari up and running early in 2018, so watch this space, as this will be a holiday of a lifetime and soon the wines from these estates will be available here in the UK, all of which will be available to try either at an outlet of ours, or at one of our ‘Meet the Winemaker’ tastings.