Sicily

History

Sicily has a long and distinguished history of viticulture and winemaking. Historical documents remind us that production has always been significant; for example, during a trip “Polyclitus visiting with the troops found a cellar with 300 barrels dug into the rock and a huge barrel from which the wine was distributed in smaller barrels”. Over the years, production fell increasingly because of recurrent Arab invasions which brought an improvement in agriculture but not in grape growing. Grapes were produced only for drying and to create sweet wines according to their use and taste. Historically, Sicily’s most famous wine was Mamertino, a favorite of Julius Caesar. In the eighteenth century, John Woodhouse, a merchant who used to send dry “white wine of Marsala” to England by fortifying it with alcohol to help it keep during the voyage, started modern day Marsala wine production. The rest of Sicilian wine production did not stand out, with its wines at that time being mainly used for blending purposes.

Territory

Sicily is 25% mountainous, 61% hilly and flat for the remainder 14% of its surface. The proximity to the sea is very important and affects the island’s climate. The landscape is characterised by many different formations. The hills to the east are mainly sandstone and clay-schistose rocks with quartz. The Madonie mountains have mainly calcareous soils. The central zone is composed of chalky clay with sulfur and the western area of clays and sandstones. The islands (Pantelleria and the Aeolian Islands) are of volcanic origin.

Sicily makes many great sweet wines: Malvasia delle Lipari produced from grapes Malvasia di Lipari and Corinto Nero; Moscato di Siracusa and Moscato di Noto from Moscato Bianco grapes; Moscato di Pantelleria from Zibibbo or Moscato di Alessandria. The only Sicilian DOCG is Cerasuolo di Vittoria DOCG, in the area of Ragusa, produced with the Frappato and Nero d’Avola grape. The DOC Vittoria also includes white wines made mainly with the grape Inzolia. The DOC Eloro is dedicated to red, with Frappato, Nero d’Avola, and Pignatello most used. In the area of Siracusa are the DOC Siracusa and Noto, based on the same vines. Moscato di Siracusa DOC (Moscato Bianco), once a DOC in its own right, is now incorporated in the DOC Siracusa. In the area of Catania, the Etna DOC features vineyards on the slopes of the volcano that produce wines with a strong mineral characterization. In the province of Messina, the DOC Faro, one of the first in Sicily, produces highly promising wines based on Nerello Mascalese, Nerello Cappuccio, and Nocera grape varieties. Lipari and the Eolian islands are famous for the Malvasia delle Lipari DOC and the white wines of Salina (IGT). In the province of Palermo, the DOCs Contea di Sclafani and Contessa Entellina are the best known, allowing all types of wines and grapes. In the province of Agrigento, there are the DOC Sciacca, Sambuca di Sicilia and Santa Margherita di Belice. In the province of Caltanissetta: Riesi DOC. The Trapani province is famous for the DOC Marsala, with its wines and fortified wines based on the following grape varieties: Grillo and/ or Catarratto (all varieties and all the clones), and/or Ansonica (locally called Inzolia or Insolia) and/or Damaschino for Marsala production such as the Oro; Perricone (locally called Pignatello) and/or Calabrese (locally known as Nero d’Avola) and/or Nerello Mascalese are used for Marsala Ruby. The other DOC wines in the province of Trapani are Delia Nivolelli DOC, Erice DOC and Salaparuta DOC. Moscato di Pantelleria DOC also is characterized by the presence of the Zibibbo (also known as Moscato di Alessandria) grape and can make lovely dry or sweet wines (Passito di Pantelleria).