WINE TOURS OF ITALY
Wine tour of Sicily
7 NIGHTS / 8 DAYS
A comprehensive tour of 7 nights for a small group of up to 14 people , accompanied by an experienced wine and food expert , visiting vineyards on the western side of the island , but tasting wines from across Sicily .
Planeta Estate
Sicily , the largest island in the Mediterranean , was for a long time a prized possession for strategic reasons and today , is a land rich in history and variety of scenery thanks to the endless list of conquerors who have invaded over many years , including the Greeks , Vandals , Romans , Byzantines , Arabs , Normans , Swabians , Angevins , and Spanish to mention only a few , as well as even the British for a short while during the Napoleonic wars !
Today , the island offers countless , fascinating places to visit , from its capital city , Palermo , full of Baroque palaces to the wild , rolling countryside of the interior . There are seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites on Sicily , ranging from the Greek temples of the 6th century BC at Agrigento to the Arab-Norman architecture of Palermo , and to the Baroque architecture of the Val di Noto .
The story of wine on Sicily is naturally very much coupled with the history of the island , and there is evidence that grapes were cultivated here as long ago as 1500 BC . Later the Greeks introduced several varieties of grapes when they settled . In the late 18th century , Sicilian wine in the form of Marsala was developed by the British and then in the 20th century , Sicily was known for the quantity of wine the island produced , but then since about 1980 a wine revolution was started on the island . Fresh planting took place and both new and revitalised estates made Sicily ’ s first modern wine . The families Planeta and de Bartoli were instrumental in this .
Our 8-day wine tour of Sicily sets out to explore both the historic and the modern sides of Sicilian wine , coupled with an appreciation of Sicilian food , in the context of the variety of scenery , climates , terroir and history . This tour focuses on the western side of the island , starting and ending with Palermo , but travelling along the coast with its saltpans , edged with windmills and its vast expanse of vineyards , to the rolling fields of the southern interior and vineyards near the coast not far from the Greek temples at Agrigento . In these areas , we will discover the indigenous grape varieties such as Grillo , Catarratto and Inzolia for the whites as well as the famous , ruby-coloured and flavoursome Nero d ’ Avola and Nerello for the reds . There are also the international varieties planted such as Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon , both of which have found a particular expression of Sicilian flavour . For the British over the years ,
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