Some of the most exciting developments in Italian wine are coming from the island of Sicily. Long producing bland whites sold locally and heavy reds used to enhance wimpy Northern wines, Sicily’s wine industry is undergoing massive changes. New players are entering the market and those already there are upgrading their vineyards and winemaking to become world-class producers.

The lay of the land

Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean. Most famous in America as the home of the Mafia that almost disappeared until the US government strengthened it during the World War II invasion, it’s a beautiful and varied region as big as Vermont.

The island is largely covered with hills and mountains, including Mount Etna, the  famed 10,000-ft. active volcano. Most of the island’s forest were cut in Roman times and the resulting erosion and lack of wildlife, birds and native plants is a depressing warning of what happens when man destroys his environment. Today, most of the gentler landscape is largely covered with pastures and wheat farms, while much of the rougher terrain is covered with vineyards and olive orchards. The island receives little rain, and though a prejudice against irrigation remains, it’s really the only way to grow vines well in some areas.

The climate, not surprisingly, varies from hot to cold, the latter on the slopes of Mount Etna and in other highlands. Maritime breezes help cool the land — but intense North African scirocco winds equally bake and dry it during the summer.

Sicily has been occupied and ruled by waves of invaders, and its present people and culture reflect these influences, including North African, Greek, Roman, Norman, Spanish, Bourbon and even modern Italian. 

The food, as in most traditionally poor Mediterranean regions, is varied, healthful and delicious. It’s mostly vegetarian, based on grains, vegetables and fruit, as well as rich in seafood around the rim of the island where most Sicilians live. The primary domestic animals are sheep, and sheep-milk cheeses are ubiquitous.

These foods are mirrored in the traditional wines, light whites rather than the heavy reds that might be expected from a warm Italian region. Most are  sold in bulk, and many still remain untouched by modern winemaking practices.

Though many producers are making better whites, it’s the reds that are generating much excitement, reflecting the growing demand for red wine worldwide.

A new wave of invaders

Sicily is now being invaded by foreign wine varieties including those from the mainland of Italy. The most exciting entrants, however, are the popular French varieties. These new grapes are increasingly augmenting traditional Sicilian varieties. Most producers are dabbling with Cabernet, Merlot, Chardonnay or Syrah, and some are making superior wines from those grapes.

Still, the majority of Sicilian wines are made from traditional varieties, some making superb wines, but all unfamiliar to most consumers. Sicily’s best-known wine is Marsala. Created by an Englishman who fortified wine to preserve it on voyages, it’s made from bone dry to syrupy. It’s best known in the United States for cooking.

The most popular local white varieties are Inzolia (Insolia or Ansonica), Grillo, Grecanico and bland Trebbiano and Catarratto. Most make pleasant  wines for meals, seeing little oak and often being crisp and low in alcohol.

The ubiquitous indigenous red variety is Nero d’Avola or Calabrese, a chameleon that can produce anything from a light rosé to intense wines comparable to Barbera or Sangiovese. Like most Sicilian wines, Nero d’Avola is best with foods, a handicap in international competitions against richer wines.

A variety of wineries

Let’s look at some of the producers.

Duca di Salaparuta/Corvo, has long Sicily’s best-known table wine producer, but faded under the regional government that owned it. It recently sold to Illva Saranno, which also owns Florio.

Long one of Sicily’s outstanding producers, Tasca D'Almerita has

made wines at the huge Regaleali Estate since 1830. Though inland, its vineyards lie at 1200 to 2200 feet in the coldest area of Sicily. Its volume production is tasty fresh and fruity Regaleali red and white, with the Tasca D’Almertia name reserved for the better wines like Rosso del Conte.

The ancient abbey of Santa Anastasia, one of Sicily’s hottest wineries, produces wines from local and international vines, including Litra, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Nero d’Avola.

Azienda Vinicola Benanti has grown grapes on the slopes of Mount Etna since the late 1800’s. It focuses on traditional varieties, whites Carricante and Minnella, and reds Nerello Mascalese, Nerello Cappuccio and Nero d’Avola. Also on Etna, Azienda Agricola Cottanera produces local and international varieties.

Casa Vinicola Firriato wines, mostly blended from local and foreign varieties, have an Australian style due to its Aussie winemaker Kym Milne.

An interesting venture in an old site is Dei Principi di Spadafora at the ancestral estate of Prince Francesco Spadafora. Likewise the Morgante family has long raised grapes but now produces exceptional Nero d’Avola.

Presently considered Sicily’s hottest winery is Planeta, with its stylish young president Francesca Planeta. Its New World-style Chardonnay has been called Sicily’s best, while the Santa Cecilia Nero d’Avola has been described as “squeezed Sicily.”

Having sold off their traditional Marsala wine business, the Rallo family uses the Donnafugata name for table wines made from native and international varieties grown in the area where Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa set part of his novel "Il Gattopardo" ("The Leopard").

Tenuta Rapitalà is a fast-growing winery located in a near the north shore where gaps in the hills admit cool maritime breezes while mountains block the hot scirocco from the south. 

Two ventures involving leading northern Italian wine companies include Pasqua with local Fazio Wines, and Feudo Principi di Butera, a venture of the Zonin wine empire.

Much Sicilian wine is produced by grower co-ops stuck in the past, but  Settesoli Winery in Agrigento with the Mandrarossa and Bendico brands and Calatrasi have upgraded, the latter with three Australian winemakers.

It’s worth trying these new Sicilian wines. Mostly reasonable in cost, they often excellent value among many overpriced bottles.

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