The Winery Barone d'Albius of Sicilia of Sicile

Lucio Tasca d’Almerita died in Palermo this week, on 25 July, aged 82. In Sicily he was known simply as ‘Conte Lucio’, such was the reputation of the Count and the amount of respect and affection people had for him. Lucio was one of the pioneers of winemaking on the island from a technical point of view, but moreover he was able to demonstrate how effective the modernisation of Sicily could be from a cultural standpoint. Born in Palermo on 9 January 1940, he was an athlete in his youth and even ...

The W/O (standing for ‘without’) Frappato 2020 – an organic Sicilian red – is packaged in a bottle made with ‘wild’ glass (the name bottle manufacturer Estal has given to its 100% recycled glass). The launch, which forms part of the company’s pledge to become Net Zero and halve its carbon footprint by 2030, marked a ‘UK first for wine’, according to the online wine merchant. It follows a recent audit commissioned from EcoAct – a specialist company advising on sustainability, which sh ...

Torres is best known for producing wines across Spanish regions including Catalunya, Rioja and Ribera del Duero. It also has an international presence with Miguel Torres in Chile and Marimar in Sonoma, California, but for more than a decade it has been producing wines in Galicia too. This aspect of its portfolio started with the purchase of a 6ha vineyard in the Salnés subregion, producing the upmarket wine Blanco Granito based on Rías Baixas’ star variety, Albariño. The wine is made from a uniq ...