Sicilian Wine, by Bill Nesto MW and Frances di Savino
It’s great to see a book devoted to Sicily and its wines. Sicily is kind of like a whole country, both in its historic diversity at the crossroads of ancient civilisations and their trading routes, and in its wine production. It produces more than some other European nations.
Sicily – a continent on one island
A steep gradient, literally and thermally, exists from the cool, high slopes of Mount Etna in the east of Sicily to the basking west of the island, both Palermo and the island of Pantelleria, which is nearer Africa than Europe. Combine this with a bevy of well-adapted local grape varieties, and Sicily has an enviable paradigm on the cool-hot spectrum.
Sicily according to Winkler and MJT
Sicily spreads across all five Winkler regions
Frappato
A two hour – Italian-style driving – journey south and slightly west of Mount Etna lies Sicily’s only DOCG, Cerasuolo di Vittoria, in Ragusa province, made from frappato blended with nero d’avola.
Sicily's own nero d'avola
Some countries have an adopted signature grape variety – carmenere in Chile, pinotage in South Africa, malbec in Argentina. Sicily has nero d’avola.
Tenuta di Fessina
Tuscan wine producer Silvia Maestrelli, and Federico Curtaz bought Tenuta di Fessina on Etna’s northern slopes in 2007, part of the growing band of producers on this active volcano.
Baglio del Cristo di Campobello
In the chalky white soils south of the town of Campobello di Licata in the province of Agrigento in Sicily lies the Bonetta family property of Baglio del Cristo di Campobello. The name may not easily roll off an anglophone tongue, but the wines roll across that same tongue in a much more delicious fashion.
Feudo Montoni
Not quite bang in the middle of the island, not close to any major town of import, not quite isolated, but quite out on its own in the uplands of central Sicily, lies the vinous beacon of Feudo Montoni.
Pantelleria rejuvenated
Pantelleria’s main claim to fame is as an historic producer of fine sweet wine. Along with other celebrated sweet wines of the 19th century, passito di Pantelleria has a distinguished heritage, and after a period of decline, one that has been revived in the modern era, almost single-handedly, by Donnafugata.
The Etna crescent
Mount Etna is a rather unique place in Sicily’s, let alone Italy’s viticultural heritage. Often referred to as an island within an island, its grape varieties are indigenous, its rainfall is prodigious, (relatively, around 1,000mm), and it’s an active volcano, the highest volcano in Europe, peaking at 3,323 metres.
