Sicily: Where
Great Wines and Lava Flow

BY IAN D'AGATA | AUGUST 06, 2019Sitting
down and writing my annual Sicily report has never been so exciting. I don’t
remember the last time I tasted through so many world-class wines, both white
and red, from Sicily; probably never, in fact. In a nutshell, that’s what you
need to know about the state of Sicilian wine today: while the potential for memorable
wines has always been there, it appears that at long last many of the island’s estates
(though certainly not all) are finally starting to harness that potential. 

As
the days wore on (there weren’t exactly a small number of wines to write about),
I began to worry that I might actually be underestimating the quality of some
of the wines I was tasting! Call it a vinous Stendhal’s syndrome if you like
(that condition when people are overwhelmed from taking in too much beauty, as
might happen in a museum). Nevertheless, the bevy of fine wines I saw - white and red, dry and sweet - is a testament to the
positive changes implemented in vineyard and winery practices all over the
island in the last ten years. Visit any good to very good Sicilian estate today
and you can’t help but come away with an impression of palpable energy, pride
and hope. The number of wineries where I saw this much passion was far fewer
twenty or thirty years ago. People seem to realize they are on the cusp of
something special, and that the wines really do have something to say on the
world stage.

True,
this report might be slightly skewed in that it covers the wines from two
vintages (2016 and 2017) that were both above average in quality. Two
thousand-sixteen especially appears to be one of the greatest Sicilian vintages
ever. Broad vintage generalizations are difficult with as large a region as
Sicily. At 27,662 square kilometers, it is Europe’s seventh largest island, and
it boasts myriad different mesoclimates, exposures, soils, wind currents and
more. That fact recognized, 2016 really does appear to have delivered the goods
in most of the island’s production zones. AS for the 2017s, they have turned
out much better in Sicily than they did in the rest of Italy.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1565102307622-A+vineyard+on+Etna+owned+by+Planeta_copy.jpg"> This vineyard on Etna is part of&nbsp;Planeta's vast holdings 

Turning the Tide

Most
people associate Sicily with a history of mostly cheap bulk wine, but in fact
the island has a long and distinguished pedigree of very fine wines too.
However, the late 19th century and most of the 20th were not kind to Sicily’s
viticulture and winemaking, with the likes of phylloxera, the world wars,
sharecropping, and abject poverty causing wines to suffer in the process. A spike
in quality was finally registered in the late 1980s, but that was nothing
compared to the upward surge that is taking place on the island today. The
current scene is a very different one from that of even the recent past. Sicily’s
most highly touted wines, those that were making all the headlines only 30 years
ago, were hardly anything to write home about, and reports of Sicily being the
“new California of Italy” were greatly exaggerated. It is true that in the late
1980s and 1990s there began an encouraging, even exciting, move toward better
viticulture and cleaner winemaking, but the fact is that many of those wines,
despite all their positive press, carried almost caricatural amounts of new oak
and high alcohol levels; others were clean but nondescript. Even worse, many
offered no tie to either the land or the grape variety they were supposedly
being made with. For example, legions of Catarrattos brought Chardonnay to
mind; Moscato di Noto wines (which should be made with Moscato Bianco) tasted
of Zibibbo more than anything else (Zibibbo is a different Muscat variety from
Moscato Bianco, better known outside of Italy as Muscat of Alexandria); and
Nero d’Avola wines reeked of coffee and chocolate (descriptors you ought to associate
with Merlot wines, not those made with Nero d’Avola – unless a huge amount of
toasty new oak is lavished on the stuff). Back then, the wines of Etna (nowadays
the hottest wine area not just of Sicily but of all of Italy) were nowhere in
sight; there was only one Faro and only one Malvasia delle Lipari of any
commercial significance; wines labeled Cerasuolo di Vittoria and those made
with Frappato (two of Italy’s biggest wine success stories of the last 20 years)
were then mostly forgettable; and much-hyped Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay
wines of those times were, compared to the best from Bordeaux and Napa, extremely
poor. In other words, there really wasn’t that much to get excited about,
though I suppose, given the situation, that finally just making cleaner wines was
cause for jubilation.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1565102756418-One+of+the+igloo-like+case+matte+that+gives+the+estate+its+name_copy.jpg"> One of the igloo-like case matte that gives the estate its name 

Only
with the turn of the new century did Sicilian wine really begin to change for
the better. It is only fair to recognize the important role played by the Istituto
Regionale Vino e Olii di Sicilia (IRVOS), an agricultural research center that employed
some of Italy’s brightest wine minds and carried out a great deal of the
research (both viticultural and enological) that ultimately led to huge
improvements in Sicilian wine (see Vinous, December 2015: <a target="_blank" href="https://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>). 

For
example, estates such as Planeta and Donnafugata have no trouble acknowledging
how much help the Istituto gave them over the years. In the ultimate analysis, the
research and guidance the institute provided to many of the island’s estates
over the last thirty years, combined with the arrival of new generations at the
helm of family wineries (young individuals who completed university studies
abroad and traveled the world, becoming exposed to the world’s best wines); the
arrival of forward-thinking, knowledgeable new winery owners from elsewhere (for
example, Andrea Franchetti of Passopisciaro - now Vini Franchetti - and Marc De
Grazia of Tenuta delle Terre Nere); the establishment of future Italian wine
stars who understood the potential treasure they were sitting on (Benanti,
Feudo Montoni, Gulfi, Cos, Arianna Occhipinti) and had huge pride in their history
and their land, coupled with an iron will and the desire to improve (as seen in
the highly meritorious investments of Donnafugata on Pantelleria; Planeta’s
expansion all over the island in an effort to make wines that speak of the
island’s many subzones rather than a nonexistent “generic” Sicily; Tasca
d’Almerita’s betting on single-variety wines made with grapes highly typical of
the island; and Marco De Bartoli’s dedication to high-quality Marsala and,
later, that of his sons to local island cultivars) have all led to an amazing
change in Sicily’s wine scene. 

These
success stories and increased sales have had many beneficial consequences,
including other island estates being spurred to improve their game, new
investors launching estates, more research being done than ever before (by the
estates, at least), and increased production of very interesting new wines made
with old forgotten grape varieties that are unlike those made anywhere else in
the world. Sicily’s wine renaissance is now based on very solid footing.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1565102769198-Vines+at+Calcagno_copy.jpg"> The vines at Calcagno 

Good News for Sicily

I
have written before that Sicily is blessed with an extraordinary set of unique,
high-quality wine grape varieties. After years of visiting the area and talking
to locals, government officials and university researchers, I can conservatively
estimate that there are, at the very least, another 50 cultivars that are not
currently being used to make monovariety wines in commercially significant volumes
(for the most part, these grapes are added to various blends). For example, Sicily’s
Inzolia (the official name of which is actually Ansonica) is not just one
variety but many; there are likely several different white grapes known by that
same name and at least three or four red on as well. So there’s a lot more
Inzolia whose fine wine potential is worth looking into. The song remains the
same for many other little-known island varieties that are just waiting for
their day in the sun. 

Over
the last five years, varieties once banished to the periphery of the Sicilian
wine empire have returned in full force: witness the resurgence of Perricone,
once limited to generic bulk blends and Ruby Marsala and now the centerpiece of
many very fine monovariety wines made all over the island. Whereas there was
not a single monovariety Perricone wine made twenty years ago (that is, for
something other than immediately local consumption), there are now at least fifteen
worthwhile bottlings available. (However, be aware that a number of such wines
bear a sneaking resemblance to Syrah, so I’m not convinced that all the Perricone
bottlings one comes across nowadays are as monovariety as they are said to be).
Or consider the island-wide realization that the three Catarratto varieties are
not in fact one and the same (despite what the geneticists say), at least with
respect to the very different wines that can be made from each. And so it is
that some real wine beauties are now being produced with the likes of Catarratto
Comune and Catarratto Lucido (and my bet is that that will also happen with the
very rare Catarratto Extra-Lucido, or Lucidissimo, as soon as an estate can
find enough of it to replant and make wine from). <img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1565107152853-Vineyards+at+Frank+Cornelissen_copy2.jpg"> The&nbsp;Cavanera Etnea Estate of Firriato Winery 

Inzolia
wines have never been better than they are today, thanks to better canopy and
vineyard management (extreme heat and sunlight are anathema to the low-acid Inzolia
variety). Grillo is also now the subject of much better vineyard and enological
care, and consequently much better wines are being made; mostly gone are the
rustic and earthy wines of yesteryear. (Of course, there are those who might
argue that in the name of modern winemaking, there are far too many overly lemony
and Sauvignon Blanc–like Grillo wines being made nowadays, and they do have a
point.) Last but not least, Nocera, a long-forgotten variety typical of
northeastern Sicily, is finally being appreciated for its outstanding potential.
Not surprisingly, increasing number of monovariety wines are being produced
with Nocera. In fact, this last variety provides a clear example of just how
greatly things have improved in Sicilian wine (and local producer mentality)
over the last thirty years or so. In the past, everybody in Sicily wanted to
make wines with Nero d’Avola or international grapes such as Cabernet
Sauvignon, and consequently proceeded to plant those varieties everywhere, even
in places that were unsuitable. And so it was too in Sicily’s very rainy
northeast, where it was totally pointless to plant Nero d’Avola, a cultivar
that hates humidity. The likelihood of making very good wines with Nero d’Avola
here were slim at best, and yet producers persisted with Nero d’Avola and
totally ignored the local Nocera, a red wine grape that has always called
northeastern Sicily home. Today there’s a far more critical and knowledgeable
approach to such matters – so much so that Nocera is finally getting the
attention from local producers that it deserves. There are now more and more
wines being made with larger and larger percentages of Nocera, not Nero d’Avola,
in that part of Sicily – as, quite frankly, there should be.

Clearly,
it’s not all roses and violets with Sicilian wine; far from it. For one thing,
there is still far too much neutral and insipid wine being made. And frankly,
Sicilian co-ops are not exactly of the same quality as those of Piedmont or
Alto Adige, for example. But for the most part, the future has never looked
better.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1565102894742-Vineyards+on+Etna_copy.jpg"> Vineyards on Mount Etna 

Recent Vintages

Due
to extreme heat and especially the lack of rain, the 2017 vintage was one
of the most difficult in recent memory, although it was not as challenging a
year in Sicily as it was in most of Italy. As everywhere else in the country, 2017 was characterized by sustained higher-than-normal
temperatures plus an almost extreme lack of rain, contributing to a 20% drop in
production all over the island. However, grape varieties behaved very differently.
The consensus was that the island’s native grapes fared best, thanks to their
centuries-long adaptation to their respective Sicilian terroirs and to the
older average age of native vines as opposed to recently planted international varieties.
The former have much more extensive root systems that provide better drought
resistance. Generally speaking, the international varieties suffered much more
from heat stress. The best-performing viticultural
areas were those on the sea or close to the coast, thanks to gentler, less
extreme climate conditions. Cerasuolo di Vittoria, Vittoria Frappato, and Pachino
Nero d’Avola were mostly quite successful. In the island’s interior, temperature
stress was much more of a factor; in general, it was Grillo that gave excellent
results there.

By
contrast, 2016&nbsp;will go down as one of Sicily’s all-time great
vintages, especially on Etna and in western Sicily. In the southeast and in the
center of the island, prolonged drought caused vines to suffer, and some wines display
slightly gritty tannins. On Etna, the 2016 vintage was a rollercoaster,
beginning with a mild winter that depleted water reserves (never a welcome
development in usually hot and parched Sicily). March was characterized by at
times truly violent hail episodes that led to an overall decrease in production
volumes. The growing season continued with an April heat wave, while May was
unseasonably cool; June was even worse, with thunderstorms and humidity. Only in
July did the weather settle into a more typical seasonal pattern. September was
a little rainier than most estates would have liked, but beginning in the
second half of October and all through harvest, days were warm and dry, and
nights were cool, leading, for the most part, to perfumed wines of very good
acidity and refined tannins. In Sicily’s southwest (for example, the
countryside around Menfi), winter was characterized by not much rainfall and slightly
below-average temperatures compared to 2015. Spring made up for the lack of
water reserves with plenty of rain, especially in March. Summer was cooler than
average (and certainly much cooler than those of the hot 2015 and 2017
vintages), resulting in well-balanced, perfumed white wines; among the reds, Nero
d’Avola fared best. Sicily’s southeast (where the city of Vittoria is located) endured
an extraordinary lack of rainfall during the summer, but temperatures were not
especially high and emergency irrigation saved the day. Happily, rain in
September provided the necessary liquid refreshment to the vines, and the
harvest took place in outstanding weather conditions. Frappato fared especially
well, while Nero d’Avola did better around Noto, where it was a great year for
Moscato Bianco too. In Sicily’s northeast, there was a very wet November, a dry
winter, a rainy and hot spring, and a very cool summer. Generally long hang
times led to some marvelous wines, especially Faro, one of the real successes
of 2016; simply put, I have never before tasted so many great Faros. 

The wines in this report were tasted
in my office in Rome and during winery visits in May, June and July 2019.You Might Also Enjoy <a target="_blank" href="https://www.vinous.com/articles/tasca-d-almerita-s-rosso-del-conte-1979-2012-oct-2017">Tasca d’Almerita’s Rosso del Conte: 1979&nbsp;–&nbsp;2012</a>, Ian D'Agata, October 2017<a target="_blank" href="http://vinous.com/articles/feudo-montoni-s-nero-d-avola-lagnusa-and-vrucara-a-definitive-tasting-of-two-great-italian-reds-sep-2017">Feudo Montoni’s Nero d’Avola Lagnusa and Vrucara: A Definitive Tasting of Two Great Italian Reds</a>, Ian D'Agata, September 2017<a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/sicily-continues-to-progress-sep-2017">Sicily Continues To Progress</a>,&nbsp;Ian D'Agata, September 2017<a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/donnafugata-s-mille-e-una-notte-1995-2011-dec-2016">Donnafugata's Mille e Una Notte: 1995-2011</a>,&nbsp;Ian D'Agata, December 2016<div><a target="_blank" href="https://www.vinous.com/articles/sicily-moving-fast-while-slowly-rediscovering-its-past-dec-2016">Sicily: Moving Fast While Slowly Rediscovering its Past</a>, Ian D'Agata, December 2016&nbsp; </div><a target="_blank" href="https://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>, Ian D'Agata, December 2015

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