As our grand tour of Italian wine nears its final lap, it's time for a stop in one of the country's most exciting wine regions: the volcanic island of Sicily. The largest island in the Mediterranean, its wine history dates back more than 6,000 years and survived the island's conquest by the Greeks, Phoenicians, Arabs and Italians.

Despite being surrounded by water, the island's dry climate is perfect for growing grapes. Most of the wine produced in Sicily was sent to mainland Italy for bulk wine production in the 20th century. The port city of Marsala and its namesake wine (see arkansasonline.com/33marsala for more information on that overlooked wine), still played an important role, but the island stayed out of the fine wine game that took over the mainland.