Over three tours during Spring 2017, we enjoyed wonderful hospitality, a lot of laughter, the abundance and flavour of Sicilian food, and best of all discovered the range and quality of Sicilian wine. The tours commenced on Wednesday afternoon. Those of us meeting at Palermo airport boarded our coach, met our driver David, and were…(Read More)
First night Our third and final Sicily tour for 2017 commenced with a notable temperature shift upwards. April and May were warm and sunny, June is really hot! Inevitably, it affected the thirst level on our fabulous first night dinner at Casamia. Once again, we were overwhelmed by gorgeous antipasti, vegetable filled pastries, black rice…(Read More)
After a relatively gentle Friday with a day devoted to Planeta, Saturday was back to full speed. We took a short drive up the coast to Cantine Fina – in between Trapani and Marsala. Here we were greeted by a trio of the Fina family, Bruno, Federica and Pietro. What ensued was a riotous morning…(Read More)
We devoted Friday to the acclaimed Planeta estate at their exquisite Ulmo property on the shore of Lake Arancio near the town of Sambuca. Greeted and hosted by Chiara Planeta, we took a tour of the vineyards, observing the hallowed Chardonnay vines that created the wine that really put Planeta on the world wine map…(Read More)
As we are based in Marsala it seemed appropriate that we should start with an in-depth analysis of this famous fortified wine. Englishman John Woodhouse discovered the concept of the In Perpetuum wine in Sicily in 1773. High alcohol wines of 15 – 16% were being stored in vats by the local and each year…(Read More)
Our second tour to Sicily has commenced and once again we kicked off with a superb meal at Casamia restaurant. Located literally 50 yards from our hotel in Marsala, this wonderful family owned restaurant delivered an exceptional dinner. Delicious salamis and local cheeses, vegetable stuffed pastries, black rice, an amazing selection of grilled meats…(Read More)
Time has flown, far too quickly, in Sicily. Several of the people we have met have described Sicily as a mini continent, with a wide variety of scenery, cultures and of course wine! I’m glad we were based in Marsala, which has real charm, a combination of beautiful old buildings and a bustling current…(Read More)
An hour and a half drive in the coach, culminating in the road ending at a river! Some people like to come on the first tour of the season so they get the full adventure experience! However, David, our driver did some expert reversing and we arrived safely at Planeta, or rather at its original…(Read More)
A very gentle start at 9.40 and a short drive through Marsala to the Curatolo Arini winery. 50 years ago this would have been surrounded by vines, but Marsala has grown around it, so now this is their base, and grapes are grown in a number of places mainly in the north west of…(Read More)
Fliss, Tim’s wife is reporting on the first tour of the season – how lucky am I to come to this beautiful place with such a nice group of people! A full day of travel – most of us experienced Romeo or Milan airports for nearly four hours, and we have arrived in Sicily. The…(Read More)