"Sicily is so fertile. The verdant landscape is a patchwork of olive groves, lemon bushes laden with bright yellow fruit and almond trees topped with pink blossom. Fronds of sugarcane and clouds of mimosa flowers line the roads, with tall palm trees and flax flowers rising like triffids behind. 

Small vans loaded with artichokes sit on street corners, with vendors grilling them whole as a snack to pull apart with your teeth. We tucked into pistachio-stuffed pastries with morning cappuccino, lunched on caponata and dined on swordfish - adopting the local habit of an afternoon siesta to recover from lunch, then a ‘passegiata’ through town before dinner.

Budburst has started in the low vineyards around the ‘cantina’ tasting rooms. We sipped bianco, rosato and rosso on the slopes of Etna, looking up at the snowy peak. The wines are amazingly fresh and light for what is now considered a tropical climate, hot enough to grow avocados!
The minerality of Etna wines made from Carricante is distinct from the bright fruit of the whites made from Grillo around Avola. The rich reds made from native Nerello Mascalese grapes were so delicious we considered leaving our clothes behind so we could bring bottles back with us."