Sicilian wines

Nero d'Avola — the island's princely red, from Avola (Syracuse) to the whole of Sicily: dark fruit, warmth, softness. The first single-varietal was Duca di Salaparuta's Duca Enrico, 1984. With grilled tuna and pasta alla Norma

Etna Rosso and Bianco DOC — Sicily's first DOC (1968): Nerello Mascalese on black volcanic sand up to a thousand metres, Carricante for the "Superiore" white of Milo. Century-old bush vines among the lava flows. Benanti, Barone di Villagrande, Terre Nere, Passopisciaro. The white with raw fish, the red with Madonie lamb

Cerasuolo di Vittoria DOCG — the island's only DOCG (2005): Nero d'Avola and Frappato together, cherry-coloured, scented with rose. COS, Valle dell'Acate, Arianna Occhipinti. Fresh, for oily fish and for aperitivo at anchor

Grillo — the white of Marsala and Trapani, child of Catarratto and Zibibbo: savoury, citrusy, salty. Once the base of Marsala, today it is the white of the Egadi Islands. With fish couscous and busiate pasta

Catarratto, Inzolia, Perricone — the ancient grapes of the Palermo hills and the Monreale DOC: the island's most planted white, the aromatic of the Agrigento area, the rare and spicy red. Rapitalà, Feudo Disisa, Feudo Montoni. In the evening at Villa Igiea, with sfincione and panelle

Contea di Sclafani · Regaleali — the estate of the Counts Tasca d'Almerita since 1830, in the heart of the island at 900 metres: the Rosso del Conte (1970) was Sicily's first cru. From here too comes the Syrah, which found a second homeland in Sicily (Planeta, Cusumano). With lamb and the cheeses of the Madonie

Planeta Chardonnay — 1994, Menfi: the white that carried modern Sicily to the world, from the family that has farmed the island since 1985 across five estates. With the lobster of Marettimo

Malvasia delle Lipari DOC — 1973, Salina: sun-dried grapes, apricot and honey. Revived by Carlo Hauner in the 1960s; today Caravaglio, Tasca's Capofaro. At sunset in Pollara, with capers and almond pastries

Marsala DOC — born in 1773 with the Englishman Woodhouse, made great by Ingham and by the Florios (1833), Italy's first DOC among fortified wines (1969). The Vergine ages for at least five years. Florio, Pellegrino, Marco De Bartoli (Vecchio Samperi), Donnafugata. With pecorino, cannolo, cassata

Passito di Pantelleria DOC — Zibibbo dried on racks, bush vines listed as UNESCO heritage. Donnafugata's Ben Ryé, De Bartoli's Bukkuram. Dry Zibibbo (Lighea, Pietranera) is the aromatic aperitivo of the anchorages. With almond sweets and gelo di mellone

Faro DOC and Moscato di Noto — the red of the Strait, resurrected by Palari in the 1990s on the hills of Messina; and the sweet muscat of the Val di Noto (1974), Planeta and Marabino. Scylla and Charybdis in the glass; the Noto with granita