ESSENTIALS GETTING THERE

works of art: the one on Etna is built out of black volcanic stone, within a lava flow dating back to 1566. If you are starting to plan a trip, I strongly recommend a browse through the Planeta website, as the tourism offering is extensive, and as well as wines to taste, there are also places to stay – such as the La Foresteria wine resort in Menfi, with its gorgeous pool and its beautifully scented garden.

Cerasuolo di Vittoria is a much underrated style, and Planeta does it well – this is a fresh, bright red that is good slightly chilled and that goes well with Sicilian food, including all l the fishy dishes. Plumbago nero o d’avola is worth a look too. BA (ba.com), Ryanair (ryanair.com) and easyJet (easyjet.com) all fly from UK airports to Sicily.

VINI FRANCHETTI PASSOPISCIARO

Taormina – a lovely hilltop town in the east, which overlooks Mount Etna and has some excellent hotels – makes a relaxing break. Finally, a trip to the south-east of the island would allow you to take in the sights at Siracusa, Vittoria, Ragusa and Noto. Andrea Franchetti is the well-heeled and well-travelled proprietor of Tenuta di Trinoro in Tuscany, where he makes fine wines from bordeaux grape varieties. He began this project on the slopes of Etna in 2000, restoring a farm and cellar and replanting old, abandoned terraces at an altitude al of 3,300ft not far from the village villa of Passopisciaro, from which the domaine takes its name.

Nerello mascalese – the key grape of the renaissance in Etna wine – is the focus here. This red grape has the transparency, flow and lightness of pinot noir and at Passopisciaro they vinify the different contrade – parcels of land – separately so that you can taste the difference.