The Italian job, crushing grapes while doing bird

50 Italian inmates incarcerated on the tiny island of Gorgona planted a vineyard recently and have now produced 2,700 bottles of white wine, a blend of Vermentino and Ansonica grapes. They have been given wine-producing tips by the Frescobaldis, one of Italy's oldest and most respected winemaking families and have even been even the official DOC appellation, or Denominazione d'Origine Controllata, the equivalent of France's Appellation d'Origine Protégée. The wine is called Frescobaldi per Gorgona.

The inmates grow grapes in a corner of the island, which is barely two miles long and lies to the north of Elba, where Napoleon was exiled by the British, and Giglio, where the Costa Concordia capsized last year.

They will not be allowed to sample the wine themselves – instead it will go on sale to restaurants and wine bars around Italy, starting next week. Perhaps the guards might want to double-check what's in those wine barrels before they leave the prison!