Summer foods are light and need chilled white wine as an accompaniment that does not overpower the taste.

It was on a recent foray into the Sicilian Noto Valley vineyards, renowned for their heavy reds, that I found a white wine worth writing about. Riofavara winery is tucked away in the fertile valley below the hilltop town of Ispica.

Massimo Padova has a passion for producing small amounts of excellent quality wines from his vineyards dating back to 1920.

Here, he uses as little chemical intervention as possible and manure from Modica for fertiliser. Manual pruning, thinning and finally harvesting produces a premium quality grape.

In the cellars, the grapes are transformed using modern winemaking techniques. Softly pressed through a membrane, they use natural yeast indigenous to the Avola region.

Among their dark intense reds there is a surprising find. A mix of hand-picked Inzolia, Grecenico and Chardonnay grapes are pressed in late August and fermented at a cool 18˚C.

For at least 60 days, the must is left to ferment before bottling. The final product is a lovely golden straw-coloured wine with a perky personality of 13 per cent alcohol.

Its intense aroma and fruity flavour make for an ideal summer white. This IDP Marzaiolo wine is worth seeking out, and a little birdie tells me the chef at the Dragonara Hotel Sicilian restaurant stocks Riofavara wines.

To mainland Italy now and into the shadow of the Torrechiara Castle, within a 30-minute drive of Parma. Giuseppi established the Lamoretti family winery in 1930, but it is now in the capable hands of Isidoro and his son Giovanni.

Isodoro promoted a DOC quality for Parma wines in 1979, so one expects to find some fine wines here. This winery supplied Italy’s king with strong red Barbabero wines, but I was seeking out wines to sip for summer.

With 100kg wild boar rooting among the vines, I was happy to stay under the shade of the cherry trees. Quality counts here and the hand-picked and processed grapes are handled with care. Minimum sulphides are added to produce wines with freshness and strength.

Here I found the Colli di Parma Frizzante DOC 2009. This 12.5 per cent naturally fizzy wine has a great colour (from maceration with skins) with a fresh, bright taste and a hint of Parma violet aftertaste. It is ideal to drink as an appetiser or with Parma ham salads.

The 2010 vintage, at 13 per cent, paler and hardier, is a good accompaniment to fish or risotto. The vinification takes place without contact with air so the natural CO₂ remains to give a fizz.

And if you like fizz, I have to mention the Colli di Parma Lambrussco 2010 with its dark liquorice and damson colour that froths in your glass to give a peppery taste. Giovanni recommends serving it with fried sausage so it would be great for an evening barbecue.

For my next destination, I have chosen Newent, set in the rolling hills of Gloucestershire and on the edge of the Forest of Dean. England over the past 10 years has made serious inroads into producing some great wines.

Cool weather viticulture produces grapes with a good fruity character; the grapes are not ‘boiled’ on the vine. The quality of the grape gives a fine, delicate and clean taste worth trying.

The Three Choirs Vineyards are set in 75 acres of picture-book countryside. A range of grapes are grown here which are not familiar to Mediterranean folk.

The Coleridge Hill 2009 is an Estate Reserve with a delicate pale colour. On the dry side, the crisp flavour gives tastes of green apples and elderberry flowers. My mother used to send me down the lane to pick these flowers for homemade wines and they have a heady perfume when in full bloom.

The wine is a blend of Phoenix, Madelaine Angevine and Huxelrebe grapes. With other wines in the range to taste, an overnight stay in their own hotel makes this an ideal way to end summer.

Last but not least, Malta. I have chosen the Meridiana Estate’s Isis white wine. Made exclusively from homegrown Chardonnay grapes, this wine has a freshness and tropical fruit flavour that will complement summer foods admirably. The Phoenician goddess of sailors still holds us all in her sight.

Since 1987, Mark Miceli-Farrugia has set high standards for Maltese wines. Noble grape varieties have been planted in our hot climate and are now producing top quality wines from the 19 hectares at the old Ta’ Qali airfield. With tight temperature control for the fermentation, the quality is top class.

On my travels through Europe earlier this year, all the wineries were hopeful of a good crop of grapes. With ideal spring weather, some were hopeful it would be as good as 1996. The wine growers all have one thing in common – passion for their work using God’s ingredients, the weather and as little intervention as possible.

The Italians say: ‘We work with what nature gives us and do as best we can’.

Do I have a favourite? My motto has always been, ‘Give me one glass of excellent wine and I shall be happy.’ I am happy.