Sicily, the largest Mediterranean island, is just off the "toe" of Italy's "boot." Swim in the ocean on Christmas Day! There is never a bad time to visit Sicily. Travel from the West Coast to Eastern Mt Etna and ferry to a vineyard island. Every inch of Sicily is breath-taking.
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Hotels
Wineries
Sicily is Italy's southernmost region, and the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. For more than 2500 years Sicily (Sicilia in Italian) has been a significant center of Mediterranean viniculture, although the reputation and style of its wines has changed significantly over that time.
The island was once most famous for sweet Muscats (see Pantelleria), and later fortified Marsala. Today many of its best-known wines are dry table wines produced under the regional IGT title Terre Siciliane, or the Sicilia DOC (see below).
Sicily
Rural viticulture and blue skies, Sicily
At its widest point Sicily measures 280 kilometers (175 miles) east to west, and about one third that distance north to south. Its roughly triangular shape led the island to be dubbed Trinacria (the triangle) during the Middle Ages, and is reflected in the triskelion (a motif with three protrusions) at the center of the regional flag.
Blessed with consistently bright sunshine and reliably moderate rainfall, Sicily's classic Mediterranean climate is ideally suited to the production of wine grapes. The warm, dry climate means that mildews and rots are kept to a minimum, particularly in well-ventilated areas that benefit from coastal breezes. This low disease pressure means that chemical sprays are hardly needed, so much Sicilian wine is produced from organic grapes.
Alongside grapes and wine, Sicily's key exports are cereals, olives and citrus fruits. Its economy has been based on these commodities for centuries.
Ironically, the island's near-perfect viticultural conditions played a key role in the downfall of Sicilian wine in the late 20th Century. Reliable sunshine and low disease pressure have always made it easy for Sicilian vinegrowers to push their vineyards into generating high yields. When the Italian government offered subsidies for "upgrading" to higher-yielding vine management techniques, the temptation was too much to refuse. Many thousands of acres of low-yielding bush vines were rapidly converted to high-yielding tendone (pergola) or guyot (cane-pruning) training methods.
These higher yields naturally led to imbalanced, flavor-lacking wines – a drop in quality that was soon mirrored by a drop in consumer confidence. The market was soon awash with low-quality, low-priced Sicilian wine. Happily, the movement to reverse this reputation is well underway, and Sicily is now one of Italy's most promising and interesting wine regions.
Sicily's soils, and the mountains from which they came, are of particular interest when it comes to studying the island's viticulture. Mount Etna, the towering stratovolcano, dominates the island's eastern skyline, and is responsible for the mineral-rich, dark soils that characterize the Etna DOC vineyards. Vines are now being planted higher up on the volcanic slopes, to capitalize on the cooler air and richer soils there. (source wine-searcher)
The island was once most famous for sweet Muscats (see Pantelleria), and later fortified Marsala. Today many of its best-known wines are dry table wines produced under the regional IGT title Terre Siciliane, or the Sicilia DOC (see below).
Sicily
Rural viticulture and blue skies, Sicily
At its widest point Sicily measures 280 kilometers (175 miles) east to west, and about one third that distance north to south. Its roughly triangular shape led the island to be dubbed Trinacria (the triangle) during the Middle Ages, and is reflected in the triskelion (a motif with three protrusions) at the center of the regional flag.
Blessed with consistently bright sunshine and reliably moderate rainfall, Sicily's classic Mediterranean climate is ideally suited to the production of wine grapes. The warm, dry climate means that mildews and rots are kept to a minimum, particularly in well-ventilated areas that benefit from coastal breezes. This low disease pressure means that chemical sprays are hardly needed, so much Sicilian wine is produced from organic grapes.
Alongside grapes and wine, Sicily's key exports are cereals, olives and citrus fruits. Its economy has been based on these commodities for centuries.
Ironically, the island's near-perfect viticultural conditions played a key role in the downfall of Sicilian wine in the late 20th Century. Reliable sunshine and low disease pressure have always made it easy for Sicilian vinegrowers to push their vineyards into generating high yields. When the Italian government offered subsidies for "upgrading" to higher-yielding vine management techniques, the temptation was too much to refuse. Many thousands of acres of low-yielding bush vines were rapidly converted to high-yielding tendone (pergola) or guyot (cane-pruning) training methods.
These higher yields naturally led to imbalanced, flavor-lacking wines – a drop in quality that was soon mirrored by a drop in consumer confidence. The market was soon awash with low-quality, low-priced Sicilian wine. Happily, the movement to reverse this reputation is well underway, and Sicily is now one of Italy's most promising and interesting wine regions.
Sicily's soils, and the mountains from which they came, are of particular interest when it comes to studying the island's viticulture. Mount Etna, the towering stratovolcano, dominates the island's eastern skyline, and is responsible for the mineral-rich, dark soils that characterize the Etna DOC vineyards. Vines are now being planted higher up on the volcanic slopes, to capitalize on the cooler air and richer soils there. (source wine-searcher)
Caruso & Minini
Located on Sicily’s western-most coast near the town of Marsala, Caruso & Minini boasts a history that harks back to the late 1800’s when Antonio Caruso bought the company to grow grapes for the nearby Marsala factories. The company was passed through subsequent generations until Nino Caruso finally decided to begin making and bottling his own wine in the mid 1900’s. In 2004, Stefano Caruso joined forces with Mario Minini of Lombardy to launch the present-day winery, producing wines from indigenous Sicilian varietals such as Catarratto, Nero d’Avola, Frappato, Inzolia, and Nerello Mascalese. Today, Stefano’s daughter Giovanna works closely with her father to head up this historic winery.
The area, which was under water millions of years ago, is characterized by its alluvial soil, rich in water and organic substances. Most notable are the large stones called cuti in local dialect. The softball-sized cuti not only impart a distinct minerality on the grapes grown in them, but also soak up heat from the sun which they transfer to the vines, allowing for an earlier ripening of the grapes thus making harvest possible at a stage which will allow for higher acidity in the wines.
The area, which was under water millions of years ago, is characterized by its alluvial soil, rich in water and organic substances. Most notable are the large stones called cuti in local dialect. The softball-sized cuti not only impart a distinct minerality on the grapes grown in them, but also soak up heat from the sun which they transfer to the vines, allowing for an earlier ripening of the grapes thus making harvest possible at a stage which will allow for higher acidity in the wines.
Graci
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Graci, situated on the north slope of Mount Etna at Passopisciaro, is found in an area where viticulture dates back several thousand years. Their vineyards sit at an altitude between 600 and 1,000 meters above sea level. Many of the vines are still on original rootstock, ungrafted, having never been affected by the phylloxera scourge thanks to the unique nature of the volcanic soils.
At Graci, young Alberto Aiello Graci remains steadfast in his respect for local traditions as well as the distinct nature of each vintage and only cultivates traditional varieties indigenous to Mount Etna: the red grapes Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio, and white grapes Carricante and Catarratto. |
Firriato
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Firriato was established in the early 1980s thanks to the intuitions of Salvatore and Vinzia Di Gaetano, who saw in the age-old wine-making tradition of the province of Trapani a potential for the production of high quality wine. Since then, this tenacious and entrepreneurial couple has, with the help of top enologists Giuseppe Pellegrino and Giovanni Manzo, created a range of wines that suit the most refined palates. With the revival of Sicilian wines, Firriato began implementing a project during the nineties designed to safeguard and restore the island’s varied land. The first estates in the countryside of Trapani were added to over time with the acquisition of Cavanera on Etna, and Calamoni on the island of Favignana. The two regions are a reflection of a Sicily that is, geographically speaking, poles apart. They practice 3 completely different viticultures, coastal, hilly and mountain.
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Olive Oil
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Our friends at Olio Arke.
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