Catch a bottle of sunshine from the home of traditional Italian wines

The land of Inspector Montalbano is a sundrenched island off the tip of Italy’s boot. An island steeped in history with a centuries old wine industry and the most fabulous climate for growing grapes.

On a cold, grey day in late November, a glass of Sicilian wine can perhaps bring a little sunshine with it, the ripe fruit from which it is made just oozing the warmth of the island.

Although clearly part of Italy, Sicily has an identity all of its own, with its own customs and language, proudly maintained by the local population. Recently in the news due to the desperate immigration from the nearby African continent, it is a region of beauty with wild hills, craggy beaches and even its own active volcano. Known also for its ‘Godfather’ connections, it has become one of the bestknown regions of Italy for its wines.

With a legacy of winemaking going back 3000 years, the Sicilian wine industry has gone through ups and downs, as with wine regions everywhere. Much production in the latter part of the 20th century concerned bulk, everyday wines, but more recently emphasis has been on quality, sustainability and wines with individual character. Many of the best wines are made from ancient, indigenous vine varieties, making a welcome change from the international varieties seen the world over.

One of these is the white variety Catarratto Lucido, a relatively rare grape. Azienda Agricola Cortese based in Vittoria, makes an elegantly fruity and refreshing wine from this variety, with tropical and white peach flavours. Certified as organic, it sits alongside a red wine from the same producer, made from Nerello Mascalese of volcanic origins. Deliciously light and fruity, yet with underlying richness and minerality. Both wines are interesting, elegant and characterful, available from independent wine merchants on-line such as slurp.co.uk, streetwines. co.uk at around £12 per bottle.

One of the more often encountered white grape varieties from Sicily is Grillo, found on many a wine list as the house white. One wine, however, stands head and shoulders above the rest, yet is available at a very competitive price. Called Black Gold, or Nero Oro to give it its Italian name, it is made by the Appassimento method, using partially dried grapes in the fermentation, rarely used for white wines. This gives the wine additional depth of flavour, complexity and richness, whilst maintaining a fruity, dry finish. Great value at £8.99, the mix 6 price from Majestic.

Although appassimento production has been used for centuries in Sicily for making sweet, mainly red, wines, using the method for a dry white from Grillo grapes, is entirely new and a great innovation. An aromatic, very Italian variety, this wine has notes of honey, sultanas and pink grapefruit, yet with a delicious dry finish.

Time to cosy up to a glass of Sicilian sunshine.

typically. This i ncludes a plunge of nearly 15% in rental prices in inner London.

The trend is a reversal of a year ago. In October 2019, rents in cities wereincreasing by 6.1% year-on-year and by 0.5% in the countryside.

Overall, the average cost of a newlyletpropertyinBritainwas £1,041 per month in October, up 1.4% on the same month last year, marking the first annual rise since March 2020.

Hamptonssaidthedemand forcountrysidepropertieshas driven this increase in rental growth.

There were 29% more homes available to rent in cities and 48% fewer to rent in the country during October thanatthesametimelastyear.

In Scotland, rental prices are3.8% higherthanayearago and in Wales they have edged down by 0.4%.

Ms Beveridge continued: “The flexibility of the rental market has meant that while some renters have decided to make a permanent move out of cities in search of more space, others have moved out temporarily.

“The opportunity to work fromhomemeanstenantscan save while paying less rent in more rural areas. As a result, thegapbetweenrentsincities andthecountrysideisclosing.

“Tenants making the move from city to country l ast month spent 31% less on rent, down from a 38% saving in October 2019.”