Nero Oro Grillo Appassimento

Appassimento - letting wine ferment on semi-dried grapes - is a technique normally used to give extra sweetness and richness to red wines but it has been used in this highly unusual Sicilian white called Nero Oro (which means black gold)

It’s made from the local grape grillo and is deliciously peachy, not totally dry but not as sweet as a dessert wine with a refreshing acidity that stops it being overly cloying. Not the sort of wine I’d drink with seafood or pasta but it would be great with anything that combines sweet and savoury flavours - especially the kind of hot and sweet dishes you find in Thai, Burmese and Sichuan cuisine. Think Thai fishcakes with sweet chilli sauce for example. I reckon it would also work with a lamb and apricot or quince tagine, a pastilla and middle-eastern dishes with a touch of sweetness too. Maybe a roast butternut squash salad or some roasted root veggies. It's 13.5% so can stand up to some big flavours.

You can buy it from Majestic for £8.99 on a mix six deal. Definitely one to try if you're in there.

Planeta Eruzione Bianco 1614

One of the most interesting things that’s happening in wine at the moment is how big producers are pursuing new areas and old grape varieties and Planeta is no exception

It now has vineyards all over Sicily including the on-trend slopes of Mount Etna.

This deliciously crisp aromatic white however is not allowed to use the E-word (as at 870m the vines are grown higher than the 700m limit permitted by the DOC) but both the name and erupting volcano on the label clearly indicate its origin. It’s made mainly from the local (to Etna) carricante though there's also a 5% dash of riesling. The ABV is 13.5%

I drank it yesterday at Wright Bros Soho with Alaskan King crab but it would be good with any kind of raw or lightly cooked shellfish or with raw vegetable dishes. (Planeta, whose food pairing recommendations are unusually inspiring, also recommends fish soup, fish cooked in salt, marinated swordfish and pasta with cuttlefish and peas.)

You can find it online for £17.14 from a rather splendid-looking site called Made in Sicily which also sells all kinds of Sicilian food products though the minimum order is six bottles. Great Western Wine of Bath has the 2013 vintage for £18.50* and Chester Beer and Wine for £19.25. Planeta puts the ageing potential at 7-10 years though I think I'd prefer to drink it young and fresh.

Oh, and if you're wondering about the 1614 date on the label, it was the beginning of the longest continuous Etna eruption which lasted 10 years. Given the amount of investment in vineyards in the area let's hope there's not a repeat ...

* Less 5% if you buy 6 bottles or 10% if you buy a case.

I lunched at Wright Bros as a guest of Planeta.