Palmento La Rosa - Sicily
A chunky ten-metre beam dominates the vast living area: a reminder that Palmento la Rosa housed a wine press. Now it is a sophisticated wine estate ('palmento') and a charming place to stay, 700 metres above sea level (never too hot), surrounded by acres of Etna vines. Your stylish, lively, delightful hosts, Zora and Franz, have swapped Paris for this green haven at the foot of Europe's most celebrated volcano, sharing their passion for life, culture, sunshine and good food with guests. Served at one big granite table on the terrace in summer, meals are fresh and colourful Sicilian, desserts are magnificently baroque, wines are from Biondi and Benanti. There is true generosity of spirit here, visible in the large rooms with their sweeping chestnut floors, the sprawling sofas, the several fireplaces, the original art and the bedrooms flooded with light. Those on the ground floor open to palm trees and roses, those on the first have sea views. Trek in the National Park or climb the lower craters of Etna; cable cars can replace legs if need be!
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