Sicily:
Moving Fast While Slowly Rediscovering its Past&nbsp; &nbsp; 

BY
IAN D’AGATA | DECEMBER 8, 2016&nbsp;&nbsp;



















For
centuries, Sicily was little more than a supplier of neutral, high-alcohol,
deeply colored bulk wine that was shipped to colder northern lands to reinforce
their anemic reds. So Sicily’s myriad grape varieties and vast terroir diversity had little chance to
shine. However, as viticultural and wine-production practices improved over
time, it became apparent that Sicily has a lot more than just plonk to offer.
Clearly, simply in light of Sicily’s size, important differences in terroirs and the grapes grown in each
are to be expected. In fact, Sicily is an extremely large island: at just under
10,000 square miles, it is the world’s 45th largest island (by comparison,
Great Britain, at about 80,000 square miles, is the world’s 9th largest, and
Tasmania, at 25,000 square miles, ranks 26th).<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1481148068796-Vineyards+of+Nero+d%27Avola+at+Tasca+d%27Almerita+copy.JPG"> 

Vineyards of Nero d'Avola at Tasca d'Almerita 















Exciting New Sicilian Terroirs and Denominazioni

The
quality of certain unique Sicilian terroirs,
such as those of Pantelleria and Etna, has been recognized in recent years by
wine lovers all over the world. However, there are many more noteworthy viticultural
areas in Sicily, some of which are only now reaching the consciousness of
international enophiles.

Cerasuolo di Vittoria is one of the
most interesting wine zones not just of Sicily, but of Italy as a whole. Of
course, the fact that the area is blessed with a plethora of passionate and
talented producers helps—such as Arianna Occhipinti, COS, Gulfi, Paolo Calì and
Valle dell’Acate, to name just a few. More important, many of these estates are
now making some of their best wines ever. Sicily’s only DOCG wine is in fact
Cerasuolo di Vittoria Classico, but the DOC Cerasuolo di Vittoria wines are
often just as good (they are certainly less oaky), and they cost less. These Nero
d’Avola-Frappato blends (generally containing about two-thirds of the former
and one-third of the latter) are medium-bodied, perfumed wines that neatly
combine the pungent floral character of Frappato and the darker, riper fruit
aromas of Nero d’Avola. Don’t miss out on the many outstanding monovariety
Frappato wines now available (the Vittoria sub-area is particularly favored for
this variety, so look for Vittoria Frappato bottlings). These pretty wines,
redolent of violet and strawberry, are some of Italy’s best fresh, light-to-medium-bodied
red wines and can be enjoyed slightly chilled.

Faro,&nbsp;at the northeastern tip of
Sicily near the city of Messina, is literally crammed with little-known family-run
wineries making lovely perfumed, medium-bodied red wines of great purity and
fragrance, although the white wines here are less interesting, at least for the
time being. The reds from Faro are mainly blends of Nerello Mascalese, Nerello
Cappuccio and Nocera, although small percentages of other local red grapes also
find their way into these wines. Strongly mineral and characterized by high but
harmonious acidity, well-made Faro wines really sing on the palate and show
more than a passing resemblance to the great red wines of Etna. Production
volumes are small, however, and since vineyards are distributed over large
areas but in small parcels, it is not likely that Faro will ever see an influx
of large producers trying to cash in on the DOC’s name, as has happened with
Etna.

<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1481148106360-Passopisciaro+Contrada+Rampante.JPG"> 

Passopisciaro Contrada Rampante Clearly,
Etna remains one of Italy’s three or
four hottest wine areas. Etna Rosso is most often a 90/10 blend of Nerello
Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio, while Etna Bianco can be pure Carricante or
blends that include Cataratto Comune or other varieties. Clearly, it is almost
always the monovariety Carricante Etna Biancos, characterized by a unique
lemony minerality and the capacity to age and improve in bottle for a decade or
more, that can rank with the world’s best whites. As is always the case when a
wine zone meets booming success, a lot of newcomers have been attracted to the
area, and so Etna has seen new wineries springing up of late like mushrooms in
the forest after a rain. These include small family operations that no longer
sell their grapes to bigger estates or to social co-ops, as well as huge
estates from other parts of the island, which have bought land and have started
making Etna wines (just to name a few: Cusumano, Donnafugata, Firriato, Planeta
and Tasca D’Almerita).However,
although the Etna name remains magical sales-wise, not all of the new Etna wines
are as good as they should be. Once you get past the top 12 or 15 estates, the
quality of Etna wines drops precipitously; many wines are simply uninteresting
or downright flawed, so caveat emptor.
Of course, the top Etna Rosso and Etna Biancos are some of Italy’s best and
most exciting wines right now, and wine lovers shouldn’t miss out on them.<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1481215347277-Nero+d%27Avola+copy.JPG"> 

A Nero d'Avola grapeUp-and-Coming Grape Varieties 




















Varieties
like Nero d’Avola and Nerello Mascalese have become much better known by international
wine lovers over the last ten years, but Sicily offers much more than just
those two outstanding varieties. Remember that the single most important thing
to know about Italian wine is the characteristics of the grape variety—or
varieties—used to make specific wines. After all, the country boasts more than
600 different grape varieties, many of them highly distinctive, so a working
knowledge of what at least the more important grapes can and can’t offer will
serve you in good stead. While even Italians don’t know—and could care less—what
the wines of Contea di Sclafani, Contessa Entellina and Eloro are all about, or
how they differ from each other, knowing what the red varieties Nero d’Avola,
Frappato, Perricone and Nerello Mascalese bring to the table makes it much
easier to fully appreciate and enjoy these wines. The same applies to wines made
with white grapes such as Carricante, Catarattos (plural, because there is more
than one), Zibibbo, Grillo and Inzolia. You can’t expect a wine made with 100%
Frappato to taste anything like one made with 100% Nero d’Avola or Merlot, as these
three grapes give completely different wines, beginning with their color. The
same applies, for example, with a wine made with Carricante, which should not
reek of pineapple and banana; if it does, you’re not drinking a monovariety
Carricante, and you are being deprived of the chance to understand what Carricante
is about.Of
the many new varieties being brought to the fore nowadays, make sure you try
monovariety Perricone wines. These deep red-ruby, fruity, fresh wines pack
luscious tarry plum and spicy red cherry aromas and flavors on relatively
light, high-acid frames. There are also an increasing number of Nocera wines
being made; the learning curve is still rising steeply for these full-bodied and
at times slightly monolithic wines, but one taste of a well-made example
demonstrates the grape’s significant potential. In what is a textbook example
of why matching grape varieties to their traditional terroirs is key—as opposed to planting international or other
native varieties that had never been grown in that specific area to begin with—Sicilians
are beginning to realize that Nocera is much better suited to the northeastern
corner of the island than is Nero d’Avola, for example, where it’s just too
humid and wet for the latter variety to perform well. Last but not least, try to
ferret out the still-rare wines made with the Corinto Nero grape. Sparsely
cultivated and nearly extinct outside of the Aeolian Islands, it stands out for
having very few if any seeds; it yields vivid, light-to-medium-bodied red wines,
such as Salina Rosso, that are loaded with intensely flinty, mineral-driven red
fruit aromas and flavors that make them perfect with simple pasta and pizza
dishes.<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1481217561283-Gulfi%27s+vigna+Coste+Etna+copy.jpg"> Gulfi's vineyard Coste, Etna Among
Sicily’s white wines, those made with the Catarattos and Grillo have never been
better than they are today. Grillo is now coming into its own, with wineries
finally harnessing the variety’s potential. Today we are seeing more wines that
offer both the meaty, tactile palate presence of traditionally made wines and
the pure herbal and citrus fruit aromatics of more modern versions. Nowadays, Grillo
wines that are little more than Sauvignon Blanc-like wannabes are thankfully increasingly
rare. The Catarattos (there are three Catarattos: Comune, Lucido and
Extra-Lucido) have also finally been studied and replanted in vineyards with
more suitable altitudes and exposures, and the resulting wines have never been
better. For example, Cataratto Comune planted at 700 meters above sea level
gives wines redolent of jasmine and white stone fruits, with a delicately glyceral
mouthfeel. These wines are a far cry from the insipid examples that were made
from extremely high yields in flatland vineyards only ten years ago. Cataratto
Lucido (increasingly called Lucido by some in an effort to avoid confusion, but
of course the purist in me cringes), which is more at home at slightly lower altitudes,
offers wines that are more intensely mineral and more delicately herbal and
spicy than those made with Cataratto Comune.And
don’t forget Sicily’s delightful Zibibbo wines. Both the aromatic, floral, dry
version and the supersweet Passito di Pantelleria version, with its characteristic
notes of peach, tropical fruits and honey, are some of the island’s best wines.

Recent Vintages in Sicily

Clearly,
it is nearly impossible to generalize about vintages in Sicily since the island
is so large. For example, the weather on Etna on the island’s eastern seaboard
is not at all the same as that of lower elevations in Sicily, much less the
windy island of Pantelleria.





















Overall,
2015 was a warm growing season, but
rainier in Sicily than in most of the rest of Italy. Even so, there was no
disease pressure to speak of. The winter and early spring months were
characterized by light showers, while summer featured extremely hot days,
especially for a two-week stretch in July. Abundant rainfall in the first days
of August helped replenish water reserves, thereby preventing water stress from
becoming a problem in most vineyards. However, Sicily is so large that temperatures
and precipitation totals can vary widely between one part of the island and
another. For example, in south-central Sicily, where the Contea di Sclafani DOC
is located, it rained excessively in June, July and August (unlike in most of
the rest of Italy), but temperatures in August were generally on the high side.
On Etna, a rainy, cold spring delayed budbreak, with the cool weather prevailing
throughout May and early June. Worse still, hail hit on May 8 (the Contradas of
Santo Spirito and Guardiola were especially affected), and on the 9th it was
the Calderara Contrada’s turn to be struck by hail. While high temperatures on
Etna in summer and fall allowed the grapes to ripen fully, intermittent showers
triggered rot in some sites. Thus careful grape selection at harvest was of
paramount importance; overall, production volumes at some estates were down by
as much as 30%.<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1481148287220-Carricante+vineyard+copy.jpg"> 

Carricante vineyard 















For
the most part, Sicily’s 2015 white wines are fresh and fragrant (more so than
in other central and southern regions of Italy, where the summer heat resulted
in many aromatically compressed and atypically weighty wines), while the red
wines look to be graceful rather than powerful, but should prove to be
ageworthy.

For
commentary on other recent vintages in Sicily, please refer to my previous
Vinous article on the island’s wines, <a target="_blank" href="http://vinous.com/articles/sicily-the-challenge-of-turning-great-potential-into-great-wines-dec-2015">Sicily:
The Challenge of Turning Great Potential into Great Wines</a> (December, 2015).
And please be aware of the magnificent quality of the 2014 vintage on Etna, a
year in which that Denominazione made
some of its greatest wines to date. For the most part, the 2014 Etna Rosso
wines are more austere and brooding than is normal at this early stage of
development, but they also deliver outstanding depth, concentration, balance
and complexity.

I
tasted the wines reviewed in this article at the estates in Sicily and in my
office in Rome in September and October.

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