Wine

Mick O’Connell on wine: Go big or go home when it comes to Sicilian wine

The wines of Sicily fall into two categories: cheap and cheerful, and wines of dazzling finesse and brooding character. For the latter, you have to climb

Mount Etna is Europe’s largest active volcano and also home to one of its most exciting wine scenes, but that wasn’t always the case. Picture: Getty

Sitting outside Caffe Sicilia in Noto, all seems right with the world. This place, this island really, is the perfect spot for people watching and historical reflection.

From the Arabs to the Byzantines to the Carthaginians, Sicily really represents the ABC of civilisations who loved a good old fashioned conquest. Add in the Greeks, Normans, Romans and Visigoths, and truly this island represents all the activity of the Med over millennia.

It was Sicily’s tactical ...