Sicily report 2022: spotlight on Europe’s hottest region plus 65 wines tasted

The island of Sicily is Italy’s biggest – and the world’s tenth-largest – wine region by vineyard area, comprising 98,992 hectares of vineyards (source: Assovini Sicilia). Predominantly hilly and mountainous, it is striking in its drama and beauty.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for a selection of recently-tasted new releases from Sicily

Often described as a ‘mini-continent’, Sicily’s terroirs vary massively. Sicily’s coastal zones experience dry, hot summers, compounded in the southwest by the Scirocco wind blowing up from North Africa. Inland things get a bit more continental, with larger day/night temperature swings made possible by the altitudinous landscape.

On the east side of the island, the imposing (and ominously smoking) Mount Etna reaches 3,357m above sea level. On clear days, it’s possible to see the southern Italian region of Calabria from its slopes. Looking south from here, the land is peppered with steep hills – extinct volcanic cones – which give way to the Plain of Catania, the largest of Sicily’s few flat areas. Nerello Mascalese and Carricante rule on the slopes of Etna, while Nerello Cappuccio and Cattarrato play minor roles.

Nero d’Avola and Frappato are widely grown in the sandy, arid southeast of the island – most notably blended together in Sicily’s only DOCG wine, Cerasuolo di Vittoria. While the former is arguably Sicily’s most recognised variety, it’s the latter which offers the most promise for the future: producers such as Cortese and Arianna Occhipinti in Vittoria are experimenting with unique clones, single sites, old vines and – in the case of Cortese’s ‘Boscopiano Frappato’ – vinification in amphora.

The west is the ‘engine room’ of Sicilian vitiulture, where the vast majority of the island’s grapes are grown. Grillo, Catarratto and Inzolia (Marsala’s constituent grape varieties) are all widely planted, along with other indigneous and international varieties.

The south coast is primarily sandy but limestone outcrops – such as those found in Menfi – are proving rich pickings for producers looking to make tense, mineral wines. Mandrarossa, for example, has embraced a Burgundian concept for its new ‘micro-terroir’ project based on extensive soil research; the 100% Nero d’Avola ‘Terre del Sommacco’ and the 100% Grillo ‘Bertolino Soprano’ are both from vines planted over ‘the best limestone soils in the area, if not Sicily,’ according to Mandrarossa’s consultant winemaker, Alberto Antonini.

In 2021, Syracuse in southeast Sicily broke the long-standing European temperature record set by Athens in 1977, hitting 48.8°C according to Met Office data. Yet the island’s unique combination of the most sunshine hours in Europe, the tempering effect of the sea and the ventilation from its breezes, and the hilly and mountainous landscape means that Sicily’s wine industry is thriving.

Yields here are among the lowest in all Italy, meaning that despite its position as the largest region by viticultural area, Sicily is only the fourth-largest wine producing region by volume (3.66m hl in 2020, according to Statista). The ancient alberello (bush vine) training method, still widespread, naturally limits yields. But it’s a labour intensive training method, which has led to growers in many areas replacing alberello with any one of around 40 other training methods.

The use of old vines is another way of naturally controlling yields – it’s too easy in this fertile landscape for vine vigour to get out of control and affect quality. Mandrarossa’s consultant winemaker, Alberto Antonini told me last year that, ‘Sicilian vineyards are not very productive in terms of cropload, and this helps in terms of intensity of flavours’.

See the score table for all 65 Sicilian wines tasted and rated

Adaptations

In a seminar held at the Ettore Majorana Foundation And Centre For Scientific Culture in Erice in western Sicily, Professor Marco Moriondo from the Institute of Bioeconomy of the CNR (National Research Council of Italy) in Florence noted that yields in Sicily are relatively stable and are not affected by fluctuations in temperature to the same degree as other regions, such as Lombardy in the north, or even other countries such as Australia.

Moriondo asserted that this is due to the inherent drought and heat resistance of Sicily’s indigenous varieties, which benefit from genetic adaptations that international varieties grown here don’t have.

Sicily’s hottest grape varieties right now:

Nerello Mascalese

Nerello Mascalese is one of Sicily’s most exciting grapes right now. Etna’s red grape has yet to fully find its voice, yet producers are dialling it in year on year. It has been compared to both Nebbiolo in Piedmont and Pinot Noir in Burgundy, thanks in part to its ability to produce wines of almost ethereal perfume, particularly on the slopes of Etna where it is the primary red grape of Etna Rosso. Here, it can make light, elegant reds as well as darker, richer styles. Time will tell which will prove to be the winning formula.

Catarratto

Found across Sicily, Catarratto accounts for 25,935ha of vineyard, according to the Sicilia DOC consorzio. A workhorse variety for over a century (it’s one of the principal grapes for Marsala), it is now producing some quality still white wines.

Catarratto is a relatively neutral variety which, as with Chardonnay in the Côte de Beaune, allows for a transparency of terroir and winemaking – a wide range of styles is possible depending on (among other things) altitude, yeasts, whether or not malo was carried out, and length of bottle ageing. Styles can range from bright, floral and appley to mineral and exotically fruited.

The variety responds well to altitude – the higher you grow Catarratto, the more thiols will be evident, according to recent research by Professor Nicola Francesca and Doctor of Enology Vincenzo Naselli at the University of Palermo. These thiols lend mineral and exotic notes (passion fruit in particular) which are extremely attractive to consumers – thiols feature prominently in New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, for example.

In my tastings, bottle ageing seemed to have a huge impact on what can be, in its youth, very tightly coiled. A couple of years on from vintage, the wines tend to open up and start to reveal their full potential. A number of Cattaratto wines are even dark horses for the cellar.

Two biotypes of Cattarrato are recorded in the national grape register, but Francesca and Naselli’s research estimates that the grape’s genetic variability is much wider than this, suggesting it is well adapted to a variety of microclimates. The later ripening, non-aromatic Catarratto is perfect for Sicilian winemakers as it’s able to recover from August heat spikes before the grapes are picked. This resilience to heat (its natural high acidity helps here, too) and its adaptability to different soil types makes Catarratto one of the grapes of Sicily’s future; even more so than of its past.

Carricante

If Catarratto is a malleable, workhorse grape, then Carricante is its blue-blooded cousin: Chablis-esque in its racy oyster shell and mineral character; Austrian Grüner Veltliner-like in its lime, stone fruit and bright citrus inflections.

It’s the major white grape of Etna, where the DOC regulations stipulate a minimum of 60% Carricante for Etna Bianco, while for Etna Bianco Superiore – grown exclusively in the Milo commune on the east side of the volcano and accounting for less than 1% of Etna DOC production – it must make up a minimum of 80% of the blend.

A very vigorous variety, Carricante is at its best when yields are naturally limited by the age of the vines, and on Etna many vines are very old indeed. Salvino Benanti, the second-generation owner of Benanti, one of Etna’s pioneering wineries founded in 1988 and today one of its biggest producers, noted recently that, ‘there’s an oversupply of Nerello Mascalese and a shortage of Carricante.’ As a result, Benanti is currently putting his efforts into a Carricante project which should come to fruition in a couple of years’ time.

Grillo

Grillo, in the past, has been a maligned variety but the wines proved typically enjoyable and high quality during my tastings. The key variety for Marsala, production increased by 26% in 2021 versus 2020, driven largely by a mini-boom in popularity for still (and sparkling) Grillo. The grape now accounts for almost 9% of the island’s total production.

The still wines range widely in style, from saline and lemony to rich, oaky and tropical, but for me the middle ground produces the best examples, offering up succulent stone fruits, passion fruit, herb and floral notes combined with gloriously fresh acidity.

Sustainability

Sicily claims the largest percentage of organic and sustainable vineyards in Italy. Given its size, this is a significant number: 26,000ha of vineyard are certified organic, while sustainably managed, or ‘integrated’ vineyards take this total to 42,000ha.

Sustainability has in recent years become a core topic for Sicily’s two associations, Consorzio di Tutela Vini Doc Sicilia and Assovini Sicilia, which have collaborated with Fondazione SOStain Sicilia (founded in 2020) to promote research and development in a sustainability programme.

Sicily’s high percentage of organic and sustainable vineyards is made possible by the warm weather allied to the sea breezes which dry and aerate the grape bunches, reducing the need for fungicides and other treatments. As Mario Piccini, co-owner/ CEO of Piccini 1882 in Montalcino, commented during a visit to the family’s Torre Mora estate on Etna, ‘it’s 70% easier to be organic here than in Tuscany.’

Stefano Girelli, owner of Santa Tresa and Cortese in Vittoria said, ‘Twenty years ago, organic wines were considered a little finicky, a little faulty, a bit expensive but good. Today organic farming has developed to the extent we can produce better and more authentic grapes.’

Identity crisis?

In the mid- to late-1980s, a conscious move towards bottling high quality wines was spearheaded by the likes of Planeta and Tasca d’Almerita. This was a key point in Sicily’s winemaking history, which had previously been dominated by low quality bulk wine. Another turning point was at the start of the new millennium, when innovative producers such as Andrea Franchetti and Frank Cornelissen helped to bring Etna’s potential to the attention of a global audience.

Today, Sicily faces something of an identity crisis as it reaches the next crossroads in its evolution as a wine region. A hotbed of exciting wines and talented winemakers, its strength is in its array of indigenous varieties – yet much of its output remains international grapes. While these will always have a place in Sicily, indigenous varieties are without a doubt the future of Sicilian wine – from an identity as well as a climate change standpoint.

Etna

Etna has confirmed itself as the beating ‘fine wine’ heart of Sicily, thanks in part to the ability for growers to retain freshness at altitudes up to around 1,000m – any higher is regarded by the producers I spoke to as too risky, as the grapes would be on the cusp of achieving full ripeness. Many vineyards also feature very old vines. Again, most producers were reticent to call them ‘pre-phyloxerra’ as this could not easily be proven – instead, ‘ungrafted’ was the term I heard time and time again.

Etna offers a marginal climate quite different to the rest of Sicily. Huge disparities in soils, altitudes and micro-climates from contrada to contrada (133 recognised in total) and from vineyard to vineyard make it the new El Dorado for growers and winemakers seeking to make wines of Burgundian elegance and complexity.

There’s no doubt a marketing element to this as well: the dramatic, ever-changing landscape of modern as well as ancient lava flows is a great talking point for those producers eager to entice new consumers. Which brings me to one of the downsides to Etna’s rapid ascension – more than one producer I spoke to was wary of newcomers arriving purely to cash in on ‘brand Etna’, to the detriment of the area’s reputation.

There is certainly work to be done if the DOC wishes to progress itself. The quality of the DOC’s rosé wines is still variable, for example, and there doesn’t yet seem to be an emergent stylistic signature; examples range from full-coloured to Provence-pale.

Salvino Benanti insinuated that the future for Etna Rosé lies in the more extracted examples (such as his), rather than the more fashionable Provence-esque versions: ‘if you want to extract flavour, you have to compromise with the colour.’

But on the whole, Etna is heading in the right direction. It’s still early days and it will be interesting to follow developments here over the next few years. Will rosé become a big thing? Will the DOC’s metodo classico sparkling wines be widely marketed? Will Carricante really get a bigger slice of the pie?

The 2021 vintage

Record high temperatures recorded in the south made headlines, but overall the year was only slightly above average temperatures. There was a good fruit-set in late spring but producing slightly lower yields than the average. Mild droughts were contained mostly to non-winegrowing areas, while the second half of the year was rainy following the dry summer. Indigenous varieties responded well to the summer stress.

Top-scoring Sicilian wines to try:

Recommendations based on tastings in Windsor, Etna and Erice in 2022.

See the score table for all 65 Sicilian wines tasted and rated

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