It's a trade-off. When it snows, it's scenic. But it doesn't do too much for the garden – especially when the apricot and peaches had been lulled into a sense of false security by temperatures in the mid-60s last week and started flowering.

And of course sod's law dictated that while snow flurries whirled merrily up the drive, the last-but-one consignment of mail-order plants arrived.

It's a strange thing with some Italian delivery drivers. Give them clear skies and warm sunshine and they'll find endless excuses for ignoring you. But the first flake of snow inspires a kind of mass Pony Express mentality that sees them battling through the elements to bring you a package that's been sitting in the back of their van for a week.

It snowed. Then the sun came out and melted it. Then it snowed again and the cycle's been going on like this for about a week, while I've been dashing out in the sunny intervals to finish off the garden.

The picture on the left was taken at about 7 in the morning. By noon, the snow had gone. Down at the bottom of the garden, the pool's still under wraps (and will remain so until the end of next month).

The trees in the foreground are a couple of our new magnolias, which in the summer have fragrant white flowers the size of dinner plates.

The garden's now about 90% finished and all it has to do now is grow. We'll finish the remaining 10% in the autumn.

Last job to be done now is to sow the grass seed, which'll be done sometime in April. Putting the cart before the horse, I've already bought the mower.

All the autumn and winter tree, shrub and rose plantings seem to have come safely through. But we've had one casualty.

Or rather two, because the bouganvilleas that grew outside Villa La Majelletta and our own front door decided that 1200 feet up was rather beyond their tolerance.

Faintly surprising, because just down the hill, bouganvilleas grow with exhuberance. And having planted them last spring – and had a wonderful display all last summer – we thought they'd come through what until now's been an exceptionally mild winter.

We're auditioning replacements.

Maybe I should head up into the Majella National Park and see what grows in the villages there.

On the left of the picture – is how the natural feature known as il anfiteatro – the amphitheatre – looked like from the top of our drive last weekend.

At the far right of the picture, peering over the top of neighbouring mountains, is the snow-capped summit of Monte Acquaviva – one of the three Majella National Park peaks after which we've named our our Abruzzo villas for two.

Snow cover on the heights of the Majella persists until late May/early June – but these are also the best months for mountain walking. Fantastic scenery and banks of alpine flowers.

ps. Sun's out again !

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A little background. In February 2008 I began a series of weekly wine blogs called David's Everyday Italian Wine, featuring wines costing under €10 a bottle.

A year and some 50 bottles of everyday Italian wine later, this series had pretty much run its natural course and morphed into the monthly David's Special Italian Wine, raising the price bar to wines costing over €10 a bottle.

The instant observation is that paying over €10 a bottle provides a quantum leap in quality ahead of those wines costing maybe just a few Euros less.  The wines below all fall into the good/better/best category and most provide stunning value for money – far better than you'd get from an equivalent-priced bottle in France.

In February 2009, we started off the series with Montepulciano D'Abruzzo DOC. 'Il Fondatore' 2003. Cantina Miglianico. I've long had a soft spot for Miglianico and although their top-of-the-range offering isn't yet up in the super-league of premier Montepulciano D'Abruzzo wines, it's still a terrifically good bottle.

In March, a taste test. How did 'ordinary' Prosecco di Valdobbiadene, 'Le Casere'. DOC. DVS Co-Op stand up to the more highly rated (and much more expensive) Prosecco di Valdobbiadene, Superiore di Cartizze, 'Tenimenti Dogali'. DOC. MVS Co-Op ? The answer ? Very well. The Cartizze's excellent. But for the same money, I'd rather have a couple of bottles of 'Le Casere'. And some loose change left over.

The new superstar Italian white Fiano di Avellino. DOCG 2007. Mastroberardino came under the spotlight in April. More on Italian whites in a moment – this bottle was extraordinarily fine.

The town of Montalcino in Tuscany is renowned as the home of Brunello. As we discovered in May, for less money – much, much less – the town's 'second growth' Rosso di Montalcino 'La Magia' DOC 2006. Schwarz is a highly acceptable alternative.

In June, July and August, we looked at whites to drink in summer: Soave Classico 2007. DOC. Tommasi Viticoltori; Greco di Tufo DOCG, 2007.Mastroberardino; and Pinot Grigio. Venezia Giulia IGT. 2008. Jermann.

For me, it's the development of white wines – especially from Campania in southern Italy – that really captures the imagination right now. The region produces two oustanding DOCG whites in Fiano di Avellino and Greco di Tufo – as well as the stellar red Taurasi DOCG.(Which we'll be trying out very soon…)

The production of classic Italian reds, all situated in Tuscany and northwards, is estabished, traditional and settled. Why fiddle around with wine that sells in crateloads worldwide and commands premium prices ? Why indeed…

Not so with production of white wine, which has become dynamic and innovative, with excellent production techniques and the reintroduction of many heritage variety grapes. This all provides an infinitely more exciting range of wines than NZ SauvBlancs and endless and depressing rows of Chardonnay and Pinot Grigrio and for now, at incredible value.

After the summer excursion into white wine, in September, we were back with the reds – Barbaresco. DOCG. 2005. Terredavino. Safe ground really. Barbaresco's a bit under-valued and this was a grown-up and good value bottle.

The onset of autumn in October provided one of the hits of the year. Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. DOCG. 1998. Talosa. Pure good fortune to find a very good wine, from a very good year, at a very good price, eleven years after the vintage. Peak condition and utterly delicious.  

In November and December, we suggested a couple of wines for Christmas. Pantelleria Passito Liquoroso. DOC. 2008. Cantine Pellegrino really did provide the perfect accompaniment to everything from creamy young gorgonzola, to Pannetone, and very English Christmas pudding, mince pies, dates and walnuts.

On Christmas Day itself, Barolo. DOCG. 2004. Fontanafredda just drank like a dream with a crown roast of turkey and all the traditiona trimmings. Fontanafredda is a terrifically good producer – as I never tire of saying, proof that 'big' doesn't necessarily equal 'bad'. Their wines across the board are of consistently excellent standard and keenly priced. For around €18, this Barolo was unbeatable.

And so to January 2010 and another new white. If Campania is leading the way in this field, the good news for us is that Abruzzo's not far behind. Pecorino 'Unico' IGT. 2008. Tenuta Ulisse is made from a recently rediscovered heritage grape variety, laden with fruit, locally-produced and really rather good.

The best ? A coin-toss between this Pecorino and the Fiano di Avellino if you're after a white; between the Talosa Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and the Fontanafredda Barolo for the reds. Your choice. Tough call…

Next Month…

Back on the tasting trail with something of a scoop – a wine from Italy's newest and smallest DOC region – right here in Abruzzo. It's a white wine – and one you'll definitely enjoy drinking at home, or in your Abruzzo holiday villa.

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Ever wonder what happens to the leftovers once olives have been turned into olive oil ?

Villasfor2 is bang in the middle of a big olive growing area. Our land's bordered by olive groves, (producing the oil that you'll find waiting in your Abruzzo holiday villa), and we own a few trees ourselves.

Olive oil production is big business. For most of the local farmers, it's their main source of annual income.

Once the harvest starts each November, all the frantoio – olive presses – in our area work round the clock for five or six weeks to turn the local olives into oil.

Some of olive residue gets re-used as animal feed and there's a fledgling industry recycling olive stones as pellets for wood-burning stoves.

But most of this organic waste – plus all the leaves and twigs that get sorted out in the cleaning process before pressing – just goes begging.

Our nearest frantoio is delighted to give us this wonderful natural resource for free. You'd be amazed how much accumulates at just one press from one harvest. It took our friend Rocco, hauling his very biggest trailer behind his tractor, four trips up and down the hill last Sunday to clear it all.

At the moment, four big dark brown heaps are sitting in the sun. Walk past and you get a rich and fruity scent – rather like a good Christmas pudding.

Over the next few weeks, this wonderful mix will be used as a soil conditioner to improve the heavy clay in our garden, vegetable patch and orchard and to mulch – and so conserve water – around our newly-planted fruit-trees and roses.

Any left over will gently rot down over the summer and be dug into the soil in the autumn.

First to be mulched were the roses in front of your Abruzzo holiday villas. Next it'll be the turn of the Oleanders planted round the swimming pool; the areas of trees and shrubs that it's more practical to mulch rather than grass-over.

Then our orchard and vegetable plot will get a generous supply to be worked into the soil.Over the summer, the leaves will turn from their current dark brown into an attractive silvery-grey.

By autumn, virtually everything will have been absorbed into the soil and the cycle starts over.

This'd be good practice in any garden; but in our Abruzzo garden – which on our arrival was basically not much more than an acre of weeds – it's not only a crucial source of nutrition for the soil, but a fantastic way of recycling a green, sustainable, (and free !), organic material.

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I came across this little widget that allows you to run simple polls and questionnaires on your website or blog.

And in a moment of idle curiosity, I thought it'd be fun to run a poll to see what everyone's favourite Italian food was.

Lasagna ? Pizza ? Spaghetti Bolognese ? Parma Ham ? Risotto ? Easy !

"Hold on a minute," said Pauline. "What about Spaghetti Carbonbara ? All those lovely salami and cheeses ? Minestrone ? Canneloni ? Osso Bucco ? Chicken Cacciatore ? Aubergines and Artichokes ? Tisamisu ? What about ice cream for heaven's sake !"

"Good point," I replied quickly as she paused for breath.

We eventually ended -up with a 'What's Your Favourite Italian Food ?' poll with about thirty-odd choices. Which was a little…unwieldy.

So, to coin a cooking metaphor, the idea went onto the back burner and instead, I posted the topic onto the LinkedIn professional networking site.

Two weeks later, the pattern of answers is clear. Everyone in the world – well, OK, everyone who subscribes to LinkedIn – loves Italian food: everyone has a special favourite.

And they're pretty well all different.

Pasta in all its many guises: Carbonara; Alla Vongole; Pesto; Puttanesca; Arrabiata. Bistecca alla Fiorentina. Crostini. Beef braised in Barolo. Bruschetta. Polenta (Polenta ?). Fritto Misto. Gnocchi. Carpaccio. Bressaola.

And Pizza. Lots and lots of different types of pizza. From Quattro Formaggi to Calzone.

And that's just a…er…taste.

What all this entirely unscientific research points to is that the mere mention of a favourite Italian food brings a smile to the face in a way that few – any ? – national cuisines can match.

You just can't imagine anyone coming over misty-eyed at the mention of Coq au Vin or Crepes Suzettes; or Paella; or Frankfurters and Sauerkraut.

When it comes to the ultimate comfort food Italian food seems to be in a class of its own.

What's your favourite ?

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Pecorino 'Unico' IGT. 2008. Tenuta Ulisse.

Pecorino is the new (rapidly) rising star of Abruzzo wine and this offering from Tenuta Ulisse is the very best you can get your hands on.

And that's not a subjective judgement either. This Pecorino – the 2008 vintage – was voted 'Best Italian White Wine' at 2009's prestigious London International Wine Challenge, also picking up a gold medal for 'Best Pecorino' almost as an afterthought.

The Pecorino grape is an ancient Abruzzo heritage variety – earning its name because sheep allegedly enjoy eating it – that was rescued from the brink of extinction in the 1990s.

The Chieti region – where we live – is now one of its strongholds. But here's the rub. Because of Italy's convoluted wine rankings system – which makes France's appear a model of logic – Pecorino only qualifies for a lowly IGT rating.

Which redefines absurdity.

We now have a wine internationally-voted 'Best in Italy' and it's officially rated in its home country as…ordinary.

Don't even think of asking me to explain.

Brothers Antonio and Luigi Ulisse are very much the new kids on the block when it comes to wine production. They started Tenuta Ulisse as recently as 2006 and currently produce just seven varietal wines and a sparkler under the 'Unico' brand label.

Much is made of Ulisse's innovative production techniques in which the juice is extracted under anaerobic conditions which allegedly wrings the very last drop of pure flavour and essence of grapey goodness from each bunch.

It's then bottled with a glass stopper which is actually quite a nice idea as it instantly eradicates any possibility of cork taint and is a rather upmarket alternative to a plastic bung or the irritating screw-top so unaccountably beloved by New Zealand producers.

The wine itself is magical. If you like Viognier, but want something rather dryer and less – well – voluptuous than Viognier, you're going to love this.

There's that same mingling of apricots, white peach and almond – and a hint too of amaretti biscuits – with an extremely long finish.

There's a nice refreshing acidity there as well, without even the tiniest hint of any sweetness and making me wish I was drinking this on a hot summer's day rather than a drab January one.

I think what appeals most is the absolute purity of taste, which makes you think there might be more than meets the eye to the production techniques. But however it's achieved, it works.

Drink and enjoy this on its own. Or with a simple grilled Dover Sole. Plaice or turbot would be equally good.

A delicious start to the wine-tasting year !

At A Glance…

• This month's 'Special Italian Wine': Pecorino 'Unico'
• Vintage: 2008
• Designation: IGT
• Grape: 100% Pecorino
• Strength: 13%
• Closure: Glass stopper
• Producer: Tenuta Ulisse
• Website: www.tenutaulisse.it
• This bottle cost: €10.80

Next Month…

The 'Special Italian Wine' blog celebrates its first birthday, so we'll be looking back at the wines we've tasted over the past 12 months and trying to decide on the pick of the bunch for you to drink and enjoy at home – and on your Abruzzo holiday !

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Walk into any church in Abruzzo during December – and with regional variations, this probably applies to the rest of Italy too – and you'll find a lovingly-built Nativity scene: the 'presepe' depicting the stable in Bethlehem where Jesus was born.

But it's a tradition that isn't just confined to churches, because constructing a presepe is a hugely popular hobby among Italians and at craft stores and markets, you can buy items ranging from the Three Wise Men;  to a tiny lamb; to an enormous 'stage set' on which you can build the most intricate nativity scene, complete with electrically-powered moving parts.

Our neighbour Nicolino Carosella in the nearby village of Fontepaduli has been building his own presepe outside his house for the past six years. Each year they get bigger and more elaborate and this year, it stretches right around his house.

The centrepiece of course is the nativity scene itself. You'll notice one important absentee. The tiny blue silk crib itself is empty. As is traditional in Abruzzo, the tiny figure of the infant Jesus won't be placed in the crib until midnight on Christmas Eve.

And in addition to the nativity scene. Nicolino has this year built a series of tableaux depicting countries of the world. The work involved is astonishing. Nicolino does it all himself and receives not a penny for his efforts. It's a labour of love.

And each year's display is completely different from previous years. The only constant is the centrepiece: the presepe.

Nicolino's displays have now become a regular part of our Abruzzo Christmas. As they're built outside his spacious house, they're always 'open' and remain so until January 6 – the traditional close of the festivities.

THere's nothing to pay. Just park your car and wander round. It's not a sight you're going to see anywhere else and the fact that it's so personal and that Nicolino takes so much pleasure in your admiration and delight makes it all rather magical.

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It was our summer guests Sarah and John from England who first got us thinking about whether it really was possible to travel from Villasfor2 for a day out in Rome.

Bearing in mind Rome's notorious traffic problems – not to mention the driving involved – taking the car didn't seem like a good idea. The train's worse. Even the fastest journey takes well over four hours.

The only way you're going to spend a day out in Rome – and have enough time there to enjoy it – is to go by coach.
Di Fonzo Autolinee run a terrific service from nearby Lanciano to the Tiburtina bus station just outside Rome's centre.

Catch the 8am service and you'll arrive at 11am. A 100m walk to the Tiburtina metro station and you can be at the Vatican; the Colosseum; or the Spanish Steps about 20 minutes later. It's a no-brainer.

We went in early December, planning the day around a visit to the Pantheon and the Christmas market which runs daily in the Piazza Navona from December 1 to January 6, the traditional date in Italy on which Christmas festivities end.

The Piazza Navona is an easy 30 minute stroll from the Spagna metro station at the Spanish Steps. A walk easily made longer as you amble down Rome's premier shopping street, the Via Condotti, which is so smart and swish it makes Rodeo Drive and Bond Street look like slums.

Think of a designer label – it's here. The prices induce nosebleeds. You need to be super-rich, super-cool, or super-confident just to go into one of these glitzy emporia. The Via Condotti is probably where window shopping was invented.

The Christmas market is a bit more approachable. It's part-market; part-funfair. There's an awful lot of tat on display, but enough stalls selling merchandise of genuine quality to more than hold your interest.

And if you're not in retail mode – or it's outside the Christmas period – you can always admire Bernini's stunning 'Fountain of the Four Rivers'. An hour or more slips by quite effortlessly.

Though momentarily tempted by L'Arcano (06.67.86.929), We lunched at Antonio di Pantheon (06.67.90.798), a proper Roman trattoria that stands out like a beacon of gastronomic honesty in a sea of Pantheon restaurants where a fast turnover and maximising profits seem more the order of the day.

Both L'Arcano and Antonio di Pantheon are in Via dei Pastini, a restuarant-lined lane that links the Pantheon to the Via del Corso.  

At Antonio's, we shared a starter of deep-fried courgette flowers stuffed with mozzarella and anchovy; some pasta; Scallopine al Limone and Polpettine with borlotti beans; a bottle of house red, water and coffee, which came to €71. Expensive by Abruzzo standards; cheap when compared to other Pantheon restaurants.

A short and satisfied waddle later had us admiring the Pantheon. Built in 125AD by the Emperor Hadrian, it houses the tombs of Italy's first two kings, Vittorio Emanuele and his son Umberto, and the Renassiance artist Raphael.

But the real show-stopper is the Oculus, a 27-foot hole at the top of the dome that's open to the elements. When rain or snow cascade through the Oculus down to the marble floor 142 feet below it's reckoned to be the best bad-weather sight in Rome.

Incidentally, take a moment when you're outside the Pantheon to walk around the back for a glimpse of a few surviving fragments of the Basilica of Neptune dating from 25BC.

By a happy accident, almost literally across the Via del Corso from the Pantheon is another of Rome's must-sees, the Trevi Fountains.

Follow tradition and throw a coin (over your shoulder) into the fountains to ensure you'll one day return to La Citta Eterna and try not to get too annoyed with the touts and conmen offering with monotonous regularity to take your photo.

Perhaps the sheer romanticism of the Trevi Fountains makes it so popular – even on an early evening in December. It's spectacularly and satisfyingly big and the fountains and gushing water are loud enough to drown out the crowds.

We made it back to the Tiburtina bus station in good time for the 9pm bus, which pulled into Lanciano at 1155pm.  We were back at Villasfor2 half an hour later.

Couldn't help but feel smug that while the weather in Rome had been beautiful, it had rained all day in Ascigno.

We travelled by Di Fonzo Autolinee – www.difonzobus.com – and paid €61 for two return tickets. But you can travel for as little as €10 return at quieter times of the year.

Recommended ? Unhesitatingly. A day out in Rome could be one of the highlights of your Abruzzo villa holiday !

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Barolo. DOCG. 2004. Fontanafredda

Last month we looked at a Christmas wine to go with the pudding and the mince pies. This month, it's what to drink with the turkey. Barolo ! With turkey ? Are you crazy ?

Still the indignation for a moment and consider that a good turkey – and we're not talking about some deep-frozen supermarket bowling ball here, but a good turkey, which has led a full and blameless life out in the open air – is a bird of richness and flavour.

Then consider some of the powerful tastes you're going to be adding to make your delicious free-range bird even more scrumptious: sausages; bacon; two or even three different sorts of stuffing; a rich gravy. A white wine or an everyday red is simply going to get lost in this heady blend of flavours.

Doubly so if you go ultra-traditional and roast a goose on Christmas Day.

So, Barolo is my choice of Christmas wine. And let's face it, if we're talking 'Special Italian Wine', what could be more special than what for me is unarguably Italy's greatest red ?

If you're a regular on these wine blogs, you'll know I'm a big fan of the producers Fontanafredda. Living proof that in terms of wine production, 'big' doesn't necessarily equal 'bad'.

Taking it as understood that the nosebleed prices you can pay for a single vineyard/single comune Barolo are beyond the scope of probably all our wallets, when searching for a top-quality generic Barolo such as this, you need to tread with a degree of caution. Hence my reliance on a producer I know and trust.

This Barolo is produced from 100% Nebbiolo grapes grown in the 11 comunes that comprise the DOCG area. It's then treated to two years in oak and a further year in bottle before release. (Barolo Riserva gets three years in wood and two years in bottle).

Generally speaking, 'regular' Barolo's reckoned to start hitting its stride five years after its vintage date, so this bottle from the pretty good 2004 vintage – thought it would've kept on improving until around 2012 and still been drinkable for a couple of years after that – seemed a pretty safe bet.

In the glass, a deep, rich ruby and powerful scents of mulberries and liquorice. A taste reveals Barolo's trademark tannins – this isn't really a wine to sip appreciatively on its own – and astonishingly complex flavours: treacle toffee; violets; damsons and even just a hint of roses.

Do please decant this a couple of hours before drinking to give it a chance to flex its muscles and if you don't fancy pairing it up with turkey (or goose), then any rich meaty dish will provide an equal treat.

Diving into the spirit of traditional Italian Christmas food, we enjoyed this bottle with a dish of Zampone, (a stuffed pig's trotter which – trust me – is way better than it sounds), followed by a rather greedy wedge of Taleggio. It was all utterly, sublimely delicious.

Merry Christmas !

At A Glance…
This month's featured wine: Barolo
Vintage: 2004
Designation: DOCG
Grape: 100% Nebbiolo
Strength: 13.5%
Closure: Cork
Producer: Fontanafredda
Website: www.fontanafredda.it
This bottle cost: €17.80

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After a thoroughly dire and drenching October, we rather feared the worst for November which is – statistically – the wettest month of the year.

But aside from a couple of apologetic little showers as October grudgingly relinquished its soggy hold, the weather's been absolutely glorious, with day after day of clear blue skies and temperatures around 20C/68F.

Our November guests, who'd decided on Villasfor2 after the usual online search for an Italy villa for couples, were dazzled and delighted – and not just by the sun, for while it's true that an Abruzzo autumn is nothing if not unpredictable, November rewards your visit with the arrival of the year's new olive oil, wine and sweet chestnuts.

All over Italy, the year's Vino Novello  is released on November 6. Which craftily gives it a fortnight's head start over Beaujolais Nouveau. Despite the dire predictions triggered by rain during the grape harvest, the new Montepulciano we've tried from our regular favourite everyday cantinas Tollo and Miglianico is delicious. Packed with fruit; soft and gentle.

For a change, we also tried a Primitivo Novello from Puglia, which was heady stuff. And at €4.39, not cheap either. Sadly, taking a leaf out of the Bumper Book of French Greed by noting the prices asked for new Beaujolais, some Abruzzo producers are attempting to cash-in on Vino Novello's popularity. One, who shall be nameless – oh..OK…Zaccagnini – is charging a whopping €7+ a bottle !

Is it any good ? I haven't a clue and I'm not paying to find out either, as there are plenty of other less-pricey choices. Vino Novello isn't made in vast quantities – less than 1% of Italy's annual output – so it's hardly exported and is there to be quaffed and enjoyed as a fleeting pleasure. Gone, generally, by the new year.

And what to nibble alongside ? Roast chestnuts. The biggest, sweetest, fattest ones are known as marrone – turned into marrons glaces in France – and they have an incredible affinity with the sweet fruitiness of Vino Novello.

And the oil. The last addition to this wonderful autumn bounty. Picked, pressed and ready. Not a big crop this year – but really excellent quality. A dark gold colour, shot with green. Good unfiltered oil; country bread and a little salt are one of the very finest things to eat and you'll find a bottle of this same oil, from the olive groves bordering Villasfor2, always waiting for you in your villa.

What better reason to change that web search from an Italy villa for couples to an Abruzzo villa for couples ? November could be a foodie's  best month for an Abruzzo holiday !

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Pantelleria Passito Liquoroso. DOC. 2008. Cantine Pellegrino.

More wine tends to get drunk during December than at any other time of year. In fact, more bad wine tends to get drunk during December than at any other time of year as too many of those 'special' bottles specially bought for Christmas lunch turn out to be the duds that have been festering in some supermarket warehouse or wine retailer's cellar.

Christmas is made decidedly cheerier by a couple of decent bottles to go with the feasting, so in the first of two festive recommendations for 'Special Italian Wine', here's a really delicious accompaniment to the Christmas pudding; the mince pies – and some blue cheeses too.

The tiny Mediterranean island of Pantelleria – less than 10 miles long – is the southernmost part of Italy. It lies some 60 miles south-west of Sicily – but only 40 miles off the coast of Tunisia. For centuries, islanders produced a wine made from the alluringly-named Zibibbo grape – a local variant of Muscat.

Harvested in August, bunches of these grapes are hung, or laid-out to dry in the sun until, just before they shrivelled into raisins, they were pressed to produce a sweet, strong wine – 15% in this case.

Such was the reputation of this wine from Pantelleria, that it became only the third Italian wine to be awarded DOC status when the system was introduced some 50 years ago.

This offering from the Pellegrino winery in Sicily, (more familiar for its world-renowned Marsala and actually based in the town of Marsala itself), is a young Passito, given just 4 months in the bottle, (you'd hardly call it 'ageing'), before release.

Consequently it's a light, fresh wine which – when you think about it – is just what you need at the end of a heavy Christmas lunch when you've probably started with a glass of champagne, before moving onto bottles of red.

The colour is golden and the fragrance is delicate and floral – the Zibibbo grape isn't renowned for the huge scent of fruit you get with some muscat wines – but that belies what awaits your first sip, which takes in candied peel, tangerines and a nutty sweetness that lingers on your tongue for an age. There's none of the rather unpleasant cloying aftertaste you find with far too many sweet wines.

Drink this chilled – but not too cold, or it'll kill the delicacy of this wine stone-dead – and it'll go like a dream with the puddings, mince pies, cakes and pretty well all the other sweet treats of Christmas. (Except chocolate. Not a lot goes well with chocolate. Even less so with chocolate mints…).

And if you don't have a sweet tooth, try this Passito with a creamy blue cheese like a young Gorgonzola (the type – for example – sold in the UK under the Dolcelatte brand). Though port and Stilton are a marriage made in heaven, (but far too heavy a combination after you've waded through turkey and pudding), Passito and creamy blues – or even Roquefort, which the French will happily partner with Sauternes – are a lighter and far more agreeable alternative.

At A Glance…

• This month's featured wine: Pantelleria Passito Liquoroso

• Vintage: 2008

• Designation: DOC

• Grape: 100% Zibibbo

• Strength: 15%

• Closure: Cork stopper

• Producer: Cantine Pellegrino

• Website: www.carlopellegrino.it

• This bottle cost: €7.85 for a 50cl bottle

Next Month…

A special Italian red wine for a special Christmas lunch. A wine I promise you'll enjoy at home – and which'll still taste pretty good if you try it on your Abruzzo vacation !

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