Sicily Wines
Sicily's Most Famous Winery

From all Sicily wines this honor surely belongs to the “Duca di Salaparuta” with its world wide ultra famous “Corvo”. This winery is situated just outside Palermo and is also among Italy's largest one.

Corvo wines can be found all around the States. Corvo White is mainly Inzolia, Catarratto and Trebbiano grapes while Corvo Red is made from Nerello Mascalese, Perricone and Nero d'Avola. The Top of the range is “Duca Enrico” which is entirely Nero d'Avola.

Sicily has always been famous for its Italian dessert wines and especially Marsala Wine. These types of wine are still very important today, but now requests for great dry whites and reds are increasing sensibly.

Sicily region is mainly hill and mountainous and has many ranges of mounts (Peloritani, Nebrodi, Madonie, Iblei, Erei) and in particular there is a Mount Etna, a charming vulcano, which unlike Naples Vesuvio, now and then wakes up for short spells.

Climate is Mediterranean with hot summers and cool winters. Along the coast we can find the main vineyards.

The most popular white grape variety is the “Catarratto Bianco” which is planted predominantly in Western Sicily. This grape is Italy's third planted variety (after Trebbiano and Sangiovese).

Other White Sicily Wines variety grapes, are Trebbiano Bianco, Grillo and the indigenous Inzolia (or Ansonica).

White wine making is prevalent but now there are a certain number of producers investing more on the dry reds.

When we turn our mind to Reds, Nero d'Avola is surely the best grape and wine of the Isle. The autochtonous Perricone (or Pignatello) is the second best red variety, especially for blending, while the Nerello Mascalese is starting it's highway to fame.

The DOC labeling concept is quite new in Sicily. As said before, nearly all wines here were non-DOC and the rest was Marsala Wine, but in the last few years the DOC wines have had a sensible increase.

Sicily is the biggest isle in the Mediterranean and have centuries of history with foreign domination. Sicilians speak their own language and they are proud of it.

In the past they didn't bother much in quality wine making, but recently a quality movement is emerging hopefully. With a such wonderful natural environment, climate and land it's impossible not to make great wines.

Nine out of seventeen Sicily wines DOC zones, are in the Western provinces of Trapani, Palermo and Agrigento (ah gree JEN toh) and nearly all Sicilia's quality wine is made here.

While in Eastern Sicily there are another seven DOC-zones with small quantity producing. The remaining DOC-zone can be found in the mountainous central area and it's called Contea Di Sclafani (con TAE ah dee sclah FAH nee), which is a new Doc-zone but has always made great quality wine.

And this is especially the home of the worldwide famous Regaleali winery owned by the Tasca d'Almerita family who showed everyone around the world that quality wine can be also on slope mountainous vineyards.

Sicily's IGT Zones

According to local vineyard locations, some producers are allowed to label their wine as IGT:

Camarro, Fontanarossa di Cerda, Colli Ercini, Salemi, Salina, Sicilia, Valle del Belice.

A Sicily Wines Shopping List

These are the producers that you have to look out for, when searching for fine Sicilian wines:

• Abbazia Sant'Anastasia
  
• Benanti
  
• Cantine Torrevecchia
  
• Colosi
  
• Cooperativa Interprovinciale Elorina

• COS
  
• D'Ancona
  
• De Bartoli
  
• Donnafugata
  
• Duca Di Salaparuto (Corvo)
  

• Firriato
  
• Florio
  
• Hauner
  
• Morgante
  
• Salvatore Murana
  
• Palari

• Pellegrino
  
• Planeta
  
• Pupillo
  
• Rallo
  
• Rapitalà

• Regaleali (Tasca d'Almerita)
  
• Settesoli
  
• Spadafora
  
• Valle Dell'Acate
  
• Vitivinicola Avide

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