Alessio Planeta, of the family-run, island-wide Planeta empire that has played a key role in Sicily's wine turn-around, doesn't agree that a single appellation will promote quality wines. Pictured here in his Noto vineyards, he argues that the diversity of microclimates on the island make Sicily more "like a continent"
Photo: PAOLO TENTI
Sicily - Italy's treasure islandBy Kerin O'KeefeSicily's wine scene is about to erupt. Thanks to its near-perfect growing conditions and a trove of unique native grapes, such as nero d'avola and inzolia, the largest island in the Mediterranean is shaking off its bulk wine and sticky Marsala past and is storming into the 21st Century. This hot-bed of experimentation and investment is fast becoming Italy's most exciting winemaking region. Sicilian and mainland winemakers, the latter of whom have been lured to the island for its great potential, are rediscovering the region's ancient grape varieties and classic growing areas. If the very recent past was dominated by industrial quantity winemaking, the future is focused on high-quality wines of relatively good value that are both modern yet distinctly Sicilian.
Dotted with Ancient Greek temples and Norman cathedrals built by a string of former invaders, Sicily is a land of contrasts. This holds especially true for its burgeoning quality wine sector. It's not uncommon to find some of the island's top boutique wineries adjacent to sprawling cooperative cellars the size of oil refineries. Even though Sicily is no longer just a vast reservoir of grapes and concentrated grape must, the island's march toward achieving across-the-board quality is still hampered by its lingering reputation as both a bulk- and jug-wine producer. The perception is not unfounded: It remains one of the country's most prolific wine- producing areas, with more land under vine than any other region in Italy, vying with the Veneto and Apulia in terms of volume, and turning out nearly the same amount of wine as all of Australia.
Surprisingly, only 15 percent of Sicily's massive output is bottled on the island and only 2 percent of that is controlled under Italy's Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) appellation system. The island also enjoys a reputation as a leading producer of strong grape must, known as vino da taglio, that is covertly destined for blending; and although most who buy it would never admit to it, many a Tuscan, Piedmontese and French wine have benefited from an infusion of southern muscle to stiffen their more delicate northern wines. But the brunt of the harvest, of doubtful quality, is still sold in bulk or distilled.
When buying Sicilian wines, it is very important to look for serious producers and be well acquainted with the best growing areas for the region's native and international grapes, the latter of which also do well here, even if they have recently fallen out of favor as aficionados discover the island's inimitable indigenous wines.
"Sicily has two great things going for it," says Franco Pisa, managing director of Assovini, the association of the island's top producers. "Native vines that produce exceptional wines, and the name itself: Sicily. Everyone around the world has heard of our sunny island." Which is why Pisa is supporting a controversial Sicilia DOC designation to govern quality production under one umbrella appellation across the island. Currently, the most common designation used by producers is Indicazione Geografica Tipica (IGT), a far more flexible appellation than the stricter DOC. "Most producers want consumers to see the name Sicily [Sicilia in Italian] on the bottle. So they forgo the current DOCs, because they do not name Sicily, but rather obscure towns within production zones that usually have no name recognition for consumers, not even those from other parts of Sicily. To have the name Sicily on their labels, many producers are, instead, bottling under the Sicilia IGT appellation," Pisa explains. "The problem is that the IGT discipline permits the wine to be bottled out of the region, and today far more Nero d'Avola is bottled off the island than on it. Most of it is of very poor quality and clearly its Sicilian origins cannot be guaranteed. Unfortunately, this is the Nero d'Avola often found in wine shops across the U.S."
Not all producers agree with a single appellation solution to defend and promote the region's quality wines. According to Alessio Planeta, of the Planeta winery that has played a key role in Sicily's wine renaissance, "DOC wines are very important and are the real future of Sicilian enology. But Sicily is like a continent when it comes to wine, with so many different climates and soils across the island - all of which should be celebrated for their diversity, their terroir. Promoting these individual growing areas, as diverse from each other as Piedmont is from Tuscany, is the real future of Sicilian winemaking." He admits that many recent DOCs do not help promote Sicily's numerous winemaking areas because of ambiguous place names, and he would like to see more careful selection of areas to be assigned as DOCs.
Planeta is one of the few winemakers with island-wide expertise whose family has had an active role in Sicily's winemaking scene since the 1970s. His grandfather founded Cantina Settesoli, one of the most successful of the large cooperative wineries, which his uncle Diego has presided over for more than 30 years. Family members later set up the original Planeta winery in Sambuca, one of the first private, mid-sized wineries in Sicily, where previous dimensions had been either colossal or tiny, home-based operations. Later Alessio, along with his brother and cousin, invested in vineyards and built cellars across the island for their eponymous family firm. They currently have vines and vinification cellars in three other strategic points on the island: Menfi, Vittoria and Noto. Their continuing research into the microclimates and soils of the island's vast growing areas, generously shared with other producers, has been fundamental in establishing the suitability of cultivating certain grapes in specific areas. "For example, from the 2003 vintage on, I no longer use nero d'avola from our vineyards at Menfi for our 100 percent Nero d'Avola called Santa Cecilia, but only from our Pachino vineyards near Noto where the variety excels," Alessio elaborates.
"Everyone is enthusing about our native Sicilian varieties," continues the passionate and affable winemaker. "But this is not the whole picture; we need to concentrate not only on certain grapes, but on specific production areas suited to these varieties. It would be a shame not to produce chardonnay in Sambuca or syrah in Menfi where these varieties grow beautifully because the current trend is toward our autochthonous grapes. Just as it would not make sense to cultivate cabernet near Noto on the southeastern part of the island where nero d'avola reaches perfection." Assisted by Australian-trained winemaker Carlo Corino, Planeta was among the first on the island to experiment with international varieties in the 1990s. The resulting modern-style oaked Chardonnay was a milestone in Sicily's enological revolution, attracting the attention of many international critics and helping to place the languishing island on the world wine map when it debuted in 1995.
Many critics today are casting aside the region's wines made from international grapes, such as chardonnay, cabernet and syrah, criticizing them as being overblown due to the island's hot temperatures, and over-oaked by recently established winemakers experimenting with new wood. Yet it was these more recognizable and easier-to-understand wines that showed the world the island's fantastic quality potential.
Because of the success of these New World-style wines, the mid-1990s saw many large, local wineries, such as Duca di Salaparuta, Donnafugata and Regaleali, invest heavily in quality and hire famous consulting enologists from the mainland. Local wineries everywhere turned their attention away from high-yielding, mediocre grapes and began cultivating international varieties while updating cellars in order to produce quality wines. Mainland producers from northern regions took notice and began flocking to Sicily, attracted by the island's reasonable land and labor prices, as well as by the now-obvious quality potential. Veneto's Zonin, GIV (Gruppo Italiano Vini) and Paolo Marzotto, whose family owns Santa Margherita of Pinot Grigio fame, as well as Mezzacorona from Trentino, have all invested in land and cellars across the island.
Initially, most of Sicily's quality converts and newcomers concentrated on international varieties and produced high-alcohol wines with flavor profiles one would expect from wines grown in California or Australia. It didn't take producers long to realize consumers' eventual disenchantment with wines that were too similar to New World bottlings already crowding retail shelves. Soon, a small vanguard began courageously turning out polished versions of the island's native wines, with the advantages of improvements already made in both the vineyards and vinification technology. Others caught on, and now it is Sicily's native varieties that dominate the wine scene here, either in purezza or blended with more well-known grapes. The phenomenon has so stirred the local economy that the regional government of Sicily has recently engaged academics at the universities of Milan and Palermo, along with the Experimental Institute of Rome, to study the island's indigenous grape varieties. The results of the research should enhance winemaker knowledge and help create a database to facilitate clonal selection of the island's domestic varieties, some of which now teeter dangerously close to extinction.
The great majority of Sicily's vineyards are located on the island's west side in the Trapani province, where more than 70 percent of Sicily's wine, most of it white, is produced. Vineyards abound on the outskirts of the port of Marsala - famed for its fortified wine for which the island was once renowned and later despised as consumers turned away from dessert wines and quality plummeted - and Alcamo, known for its previously lackluster whites which have recently been revamped. Both the vineyards and large wineries, many of which are cooperatives, are often situated near the ports, which facilitated shipping in the bulk-wine heyday.
Selecting better vineyard sites has been fundamental here. While many producers in the west cultivate non-indigenous varieties, the area's white native grapes also thrive. Catarratto, the most cultivated grape on the island and main component in Marsala, reigns supreme. Until recently, the grape seemed capable of producing only mediocre table wines, but clonal selection has greatly improved quality. Other interesting white grapes from this area include grillo, inzolia and grecanico, all of which can produce fresh and elegant wines. One of the most important names in this part of Sicily is Donnafugata. Once a principal Marsala producer, the Rallo family sold its Marsala brand, but kept the winery and now focuses on top-quality dry wines. According to Josè Rallo, who runs the estate with her brother, "Our sunny climate gives us excellent grapes rich in sugar, aromas and soft tannins. The region's wonderful terroir is finally being matched by open-minded winemakers, which is why the island is having such tremendous success."
Just outside of Palermo is one of the oldest of the island's wineries, Duca di Salaparuta, also known as Corvo, the name of its value-priced line. Founded in 1824, the firm was taken over by the regional government in 1959, which managed it until 2001. Although quality began to stagnate toward the end of this period, the winery's enologist in the 1980s, Franco Giacosa, was among those who recognized the promise of nero d'avola. Duca di Salaparuta is credited as being the first to vinify 100 percent of this now-trendy native varietal for the firm's flagship wine, Duca Enrico, whose combination of finesse and power astonished both experts and wine lovers with its initial release in 1984.
Duca di Salaparuta's evolution is a perfect example of recent investment on the island. In 2001, it was acquired by northern holding group Illva, producers of Amaretto di Saronno, who has injected more than $10 million into the once-sluggish firm. Enologist Carlo Casavecchia, who came on board with consulting guru Giacomo Tachis after the acquisition, says, "One of the most fundamental improvements was fitting out every area of the cellar with cooling equipment, which is key because summer temperatures can soar over 100 degrees. All our wines, even the value range, now enjoy temperature-controlled conditions from the time the grapes arrive to fermentation and aging. This has eliminated any risk of premature oxidation." In order to improve grape quality, the firm has also hired full-time agronomists to work alongside growers in the vineyards where grapes for most of the 10.5 million bottles produced per year are sourced. It has even purchased 320 acres of vineyards for the first time in Duca's history. Quality has already taken a noticeable bounce.
Still in the province of Palermo, where the native white variety inzolia excels on the area's hillsides, the brand new Baglio di Pianetto winery has recently finished construction. Paolo Marzotto, former president of his family's Santa Margherita firm, sold his shares so he could devote his full attention to this new project. "It would be crazy not to invest in Sicily," he exclaims. "Everything grows well here because conditions are nearly perfect. If the main problem up north is grape maturation, here we have the opposite problem. It is very important for elegant wines to pick the grapes before they become too mature." Marzotto cultivates Sicilian varieties, such as inzolia, which he blends with viognier, and other French varieties. Yet his most promising wine is the 100 percent Nero d'Avola from vineyards near Noto on the southeastern part of the island. Vines are still very young, but this is a winery that should evolve into a major player.
The revered Regaleali estate is located inland from Palermo and has been owned by the Tasca d'Almerita family since 1830. The estate's 1,200 acres (of which more than 900 are under vine) spread out like a green oasis in the midst of the scorched golden wheat fields of central Sicily. The estate's name means "Ali's farm" in Arabic, testimony to Arab rule over the island from the 9th to 11th centuries. Regaleali is not only one of the leading lights in today's Sicilian wine scene, it is the true pioneer, having intensely focused on quality wines since the 1950s. In his 1969 anthology on Italian wine, Vino al Vino, writer Mario Soldati scathingly criticized the Sicilian wine situation, but said of the Tasca Regaleali estate, "The perfection, modernity and cleanliness one notices in the vineyards is confirmed after a visit to the cellars and the estate's courtyards…It is clearly an exception."
Today Lucio Tasca d'Almerita and his sons Giuseppe and Alberto run the trailblazing winery. With vineyards situated as high as 2,460 feet, the estate benefits from hot days and cool nights. Grapes ripen slowly and harvest occurs nearly a month later than for wineries and growers near the coast. This allows Regaleali's grapes to reach perfect maturity and attain great flavors, and is one of the keys to the estate's success. It is also one of the few producers to skillfully blend the traditional with the innovative, and is credited as the first on the island to have planted chardonnay and other international varieties. According to Giuseppe, "In the early 1980s, my father sensed the great potential for wines made with French varieties and he cultivated a few international vines as an experiment. Initially, he kept them a secret because my grandfather rejected the idea and because, at the time, these foreign grapes were not legally permitted to be grown in Sicily." After the first vinification of these new grapes, Lucio's father was convinced, and once legislation allowed for the cultivation of non-native varieties, Lucio planted 37 acres of chardonnay, cabernet and pinot noir (called pinot nero in Italy).
Even so, the family's main focus has always been on local grapes such as catarratto and inzolia for the whites, and nero d'avola and perricone for the reds. Their white Leone, from catarratto, sauvignon bianco and chardonnay, is a perfect example of blending the local and international with flair and is a complex yet refreshing wine. The Rosso del Conte, which debuted in 1971 as a blend of nero d'avola and perricone, is now comprised of mostly nero d'avola with only a tiny percent of perricone; it's both austere and elegant, the hallmark of the estate. Under the guidance of consulting enologist Carlo Ferrini, Regaleali relies on new oak to age many of its international wines; employs used barriques for Rosso del Conte; barrels of varying sizes for its Regaleali Rosso; and stainless steel for its native whites and blends. Because the wines from indigenous grapes are noticeably less oaked than their international counterparts, they express their fresh fruit flavors without being hampered by heavy wood sensations.
Despite notable successes in the west, the eastern part of the island is undoubtedly the area to watch. It is here that some of the most exciting and dynamic wines from ancient grapes are being produced, not only by northern magnates but by many Sicilians who have returned to their roots. This is the area of Nero d'Avola, the king of Sicilian reds. In the northeast, near Etna and Messina, the red varieties nerello mascalese and nerello cappuccio soar to new heights and the white, carricante, again from the slopes of Etna, has set higher standards for the entire area.
The southeastern province of Ragusa, around the town of Vittoria, is home to the revived Cerasuolo di Vittoria, a red wine made from 60 percent nero d'avola and 40 percent frappato. The Italian government has just granted it DOCG status (the strictest appellation in Italy), which makes Cerasuolo di Vittoria the first Sicilian wine to enjoy this prestigious designation. (Bottlings from the current 2005 harvest will reflect the new status.) Yet little more than 20 years ago, the wine was in steep decline, one of the many southern victims of Italy's controversial law prohibiting the addition of sugar to wine to increase alcohol content, still enforced today. "Cerasuolo was hardly produced, because buyers did not want the wine in and of itself, but only the must from over-mature nero d'avola to add strength to their wines, the price of which was based on sugar content," explains leading producer Giusto Occhipinti, who started the COS winery with two classmates back in the early 1980s.
On a shoestring budget, the three friends vinified the grapes from their parents' vineyards. They even bought Angelo Gaja's used French barrels back in 1983 to age the wine. By the late 1980s, they started buying new barriques and felt the influence of California's Napa Valley. Other winemakers in the area were impressed with the results and also began making Cerasuolo di Vittoria, using the two local varieties instead of selling the grape juice from overripe nero d'avola. "Then we took a huge step back," Occhipinti recalls. "We tried some of our earliest bottlings, those matured in used barriques, and we were shocked at the difference. With its mineral notes and earthy sensations, the wine was so much more interesting than the later vintages matured in new oak with sensations of vanilla and toast. Just as everyone else in the mid-1990s invested in new French barriques, we began recycling ours. Today we use a combination of different-sized barrels, from barriques to large casks, all of varying ages." He also notes that COS does not use selected yeasts and has never used chemicals in the vineyards. "Our goal isn't to make wines that impress wine critics, but to make wine that expresses our great terroir. Here, Nero d'Avola is more elegant than in other regions, and has these great mineral notes from the soil. This is what gives the Cerasuolo di Vittoria its rich fruit, while the frappato gives the wine its floral components and freshness," Occhipinti says. Other top producers of Cerasuolo di Vittoria include Planeta and Valle dell'Acate.
Gulfi is another quality-oriented boutique winery in the Ragusa province. Launched in the mid-1990s by Vito Catania, Gulfi produces some of Sicily's most sought-after wines. After making his fortune as an entrepreneur in the north, Catania decided to take over his family's vineyards to fulfill his father's dream of making great wine. Under the guidance of Sicilian enologist and agronomist Salvo Foti, Catania pulled up his father's pergola-trained vines. "Back in the '60s, the government encouraged quantity production so vines were irrigated and planted in rows, trained to force quantity not quality. I replanted them using the traditional alberello, a head-trained bush that forces the plant to produce lesser quantity, yet higher-quality grapes. I don't irrigate, so the plant works harder to survive and, therefore, produces even fewer but highly concentrated grapes," Catania says. While he makes a pleasant white from local varieties - carricante and albanello - as well as an elegant Nero d'Avola from his Ragusa estate vineyards, it is the four crus of alberello-trained nero d'avola hailing from different plots near Noto in the Syracuse province that have bedazzled critics and wine lovers.
Gulfi's quartet of celebrated vineyards are sited in the hamlet of Pachino, one of hottest areas on the island - both literally and figuratively. Located twelve miles south of the celebrated Baroque town of Noto on the extreme southeastern point of Sicily, Pachino dips below North Africa and lies farther south than Tunisia. With broiling days, cool, windy nights and the lowest rainfall on the island, this is where nero d'avola thrives and is the variety's classic growing area, having originated around the environs of the nearby town of Avola.
Alessio Planeta shrewdly bought vineyards in Pachino in 1998, and has even built a new winery under the original farmhouse on the aptly named Buonivini estate. According to Planeta, "The vineyards around Noto, particularly near Pachino, are to nero d'avola what Montalcino is to sangiovese. Nero d'avola is now cultivated everywhere on the island but is at its best here because of the climate and calcareous soil, giving wines that are austere and more deeply colored and complex than from nero d'avola grown elsewhere."
The port near Pachino is lined with derelict wineries that once bought grapes from the multitude of small growers. One can still see the remnants of pipes where the wine was pumped in industrial quantities directly from the onshore cellars into the enormous tanks of awaiting ships. The area was then abandoned in the 1970s as many small growers with ever-smaller parcels of land (resulting from inheritance divisions among family members) took advantage of a national policy instituted at the time. Hoping to decrease over-production from more prolific areas, including much of Sicily and Apulia, and cut down on exhaustive farm subsidies, the government paid farmers to pull up their vines. Poor growers from around Noto willingly ripped up theirs and left en masse.
Due to the recent international success of Italy's native wines, including Nero d'Avola, the Noto area has been revived. Vines from Pachino in particular produce terroir-driven wines with bright acidity and soft tannins. They have a strong identity, something that is sadly lacking in many of the island's more fruit-forward wines based on the same grape. The best producers use older barriques that do not impart overt wood flavors or add excess wood tannins.
Moscato di Noto's rebirth is yet another intriguing development here. The delicious white dessert wine is made from the area's own clone of moscato, and typically possesses flavors of dried citrus, pistachio and pastry cream enlivened by fresh acidity. At the moment, there are a limited number of producers making only a tiny amount of bottles, but recent plantings should increase availability over the next few years. Amphoras and other objects in the Syracuse museum prove that the area's Greek invaders were already vinifying wine, most likely from the moscato grape, in the 5th century B.C., making the southeast of the island the oldest documented wine-producing area on the Sicily.
Mt. Etna looms large in the everyday life of those who inhabit the nearby city of Catania in Sicily's northeast. Those who live in the shadow of the fuming giant, the highest active volcano in Europe peaking at 10,925 feet, say it is their daily point of reference. "Etna is like a good friend, but one who gets really upset once in awhile," explains local producer Ciro Biondi, who has recently resuscitated his family's vineyards on the slopes of the volcano. He, like many others, confirms that "the first thing I do every morning is look out the window to see what Etna is up to. I can tell by which way its smoke is billowing how the weather will be; it's still more reliable than weather forecasters," he jokes.
Fifteen years ago, Etna, one of the island's first DOCs, had become just a scenic growing area, producing disappointing wines. Burton Anderson aptly summed up his criticism of the area's wines in 1990 in his Wine Atlas of Italy, writing that they "never equal the grandeur of the setting." Since then, however, its precipitous slopes have witnessed the most impressive revolution in Sicily.
Reviving ancient vineyards and modernizing the most antiquated production area on the island takes a lot of time and economic investment. Many credit the recent pursuit of excellence to Dr. Giuseppe Benanti, from nearby Catania, who runs his family's pharmaceutical company headquartered in both Catania and Rome. His cult-wine production began as a personal challenge and a desire to make good wines for himself and friends. "During a family outing, we had lunch at small restaurant in the park of Mt. Etna and the local wine was just terrible. I thought, 'Is it possible that this is the best we can produce from Mt. Etna, where everything from pistachios to every fruit imaginable thrives'? This was 1988, and I decided to try making wine from my family's nearly forgotten vineyards on Etna." Benanti enlisted enologist Salvo Foti, who grew up on the slopes of the volcano.
At a time when other winemakers were pulling up indigenous grapes to plant chardonnay and merlot, Foti instead convinced Benanti that the area's native grapes, trained with the traditional alberello with no irrigation, were Etna's real future. "Etna has unique growing conditions compared to the rest of Sicily," Foti says. "We have, on average, the highest vineyards on the island, which result in drastic differences between day and night temperatures that give us a long growing season. Etna also gets the most rainfall, plus benefits from our proximity to the sea. We have rich volcanic soil loaded with minerals that greatly influence our wines." Despite these optimum growing conditions, by the 1970s most small farmers had left Etna to look for work in the cities. Those who stayed had switched to modern training systems and easier-to-grow varieties; combined with antiquated cellar techniques, local production was nearly thwarted. Foti and Benanti gave Etna winemaking a future by restoring past traditions.
The red varieties nerello mascalese and nerello cappuccio are Etna's most important grapes and comprise the newly respected Etna Rosso DOC. It is, however, the area's white wines from carricante, particularly Benanti's Pietramarina Etna Bianco Superiore, that have made winemakers all over Italy take notice of the once-backward Etna wine scene. Pietramarina is made from 80-year-old, head-trained vines, many of them ungrafted because phylloxera, which destroyed most of Europe's vines in the late 1800s, was obstructed by the volcano's sandy soil.
Better maintenance of the traditional alberello, particularly in regard to pruning, as well as updating obsolete cellar techniques, have greatly enhanced quality.
Although the area still suffers from a chronic labor shortage, and maintaining vines, which entails climbing steep slopes and doing everything by hand in ankle deep sand, is costly, this increasingly exciting scenario has lured many younger people back to deserted family vineyards. Besides Benanti and Biondi, other Etna labels to seek out include Murgo (which produces a lovely rosé and a sparkling wine from the two red grapes) and Barone di Villagrande.
In the extreme northeast, above Messina where Sicily is separated from mainland Réggio di Calabria by less than two miles, another once-illustrious red wine has been given new life, thanks to the late Luigi Veronelli and architect-turned-winemaker Salvatore Geraci. The Faro DOC - one of the few appellations in Sicily never geared toward bulk wine - had slid into obscurity with only two winemakers turning out a shadow of the wine's former glory. Veronelli, looking to save the DOC from extinction, asked Geraci, who had well-kept family vineyards of alberello-trained vines, some more than 50 years old and situated high above the Straits of Messina, to meet with famed consultant enologist Donato Lanati. Geraci and Lanati aligned in 1990, and Veronelli compared the first vintage of Faro Palari, when he tried it two years later, to Romanée-Conti.
But Geraci, a perfectionist, would work with Lanati another five years before he deemed the 1995 worthy of release. Today his wine is a favorite among serious collectors of Italian wine. "Anyone can make enormous, jammy wines in Sicily. Making elegant wines is much harder," Geraci says. He has succeeded beautifully. With unprecedented refinement, his Faro Palari is one of the finest examples of terroir-driven wine from the island. Made with local varieties nerello mascalese, nerello cappuccio and nocera, the wine has a charming combination of finesse and earthiness. While the Etna Rosso DOC, based on the same main grapes, consists of wines with a strong mineral character and more fruit flavors, Faro is markedly different. It is lighter in color and more refined. The two wines exemplify how terroir, and not just grape variety, plays a crucial role in a wine's character.
Sicily, with its multitude of unusual grapes, diverse climates and soils, is in the height of its quality revolution, but faces certain risks. According to Geraci, there is a threat posed by the possible homogenization of the wines. "Sicily has always had what Veronelli called 'golden grapes.' The problem was that, until recently, local winemakers lacked the knowledge to turn them into top-quality wines. Today winemakers all over the island have learned to make technically perfect wines, so much so that now the pendulum risks swinging in the other direction. Sicilian winemakers need to focus their efforts on making wines that reflect their terroir instead of concentrating only on whatever varieties and styles are in vogue at the moment. Otherwise, the island risks producing identical wines - flawless but lacking character, wines with no soul."
One can only hope that producers, both large and small, will focus on the island's richly varied terroir, and that individualism, a strong character trait in Sicilians, will be increasingly reflected in the island's new quality wines.
Contributing Editor Kerin O'Keefe, an American wine writer who has lived in Italy since 1989, is the author of Franco Biondi Santi - The Gentleman of Brunello (Veronelli Editore).
Tasting BAR
WHITES
Baglio di Pianetto, 2003 Ficiligno, Sicilia IGT - $18: An enticing blend of inzolia and viognier imparts great structure. Lovely nose of apple and pear carries through to the palate and the long finish. Outstanding
Benanti, 2000 Pietramarina, Etna Bianco Superiore - $27: A 100 percent carricante with enticing aromas of orange blossom, lemon peel and pastry cream. Ripe apple flavors laced with pleasing mineral accents, balanced by fresh acidity. Long, lingering anise and almond finish. Will age beautifully for up to ten years. Superb
Feudo Arancio, 2004 Grillo, Sicilia IGT - $7: Jasmine and hay aromas and citrus fruit flavors. Excellent value from Mezzacorona's Sicilian property. Very Good
Gulfi, 2003 Carjcanti, Sicilia IGT - $20: A carricante and albanello blend. Intense aromas of apple and melon with apple and pineapple flavors along with a slightly nutty finish. Very Good
Murgo, Brut - $20: This refreshing sparkler is made from 100 percent nerello mascalese. White spring flowers and lemon peel on the nose with pistachio and citrus fruit flavors along with crisp acidity. Very Good
Planeta, 2004 Cometa, Sicilia IGT - $40: Planeta once again proves that non-native varieties can excel in Sicily with this 100 percent fiano, the white grape of excellence from Campania. Tropical aromas carry through on the palate with white peach and thyme accents. Long, lingering finish. Outstanding
Planeta, 2004 La Segreta Bianco IGT - $15: Fine blend of grecanico, chardonnay, viognier and fiano. Tropical nose with fresh banana and lemon peel flavors. Perfect aperitivo. Very Good
Planeta, 2004 Moscato di Noto - $43: Bright amber with rich nose of dried apricot and almond with a hint of cinnamon. Dense, creamy flavors of mango, apricot and pastry cream. Superb
Tasca d'Almerita, 2004 Regaleali Bianco, Sicilia IGT - $13: A thoroughly enjoyable blend of inzolia, grecanico and catarratto. White fruit aromas; crisp green apple and pear flavors. Great value. Very Good
Tasca d'Almerita, 2004 Leone d'Almerita IGT - $19: A very elegant catarratto-based wine with sauvignon and chardonnay added. White peach, banana and citrus aromas with tropical fruit flavors and a long finish. Outstanding
REDS
Abbazia Santa Anastasia, 2002 Nero d'Avola, Sicilia IGT - $13: Jammy aromas and wood dominate the nose on this very international take on 100 percent nero d'avola. Ripe fruit flavors and new oak in the mouth. Very Good
Abbazia Santa Anastasia, 2002 Passomaggio, Sicilia IGT - $18: Internationally styled blend of 80 percent nero d'avola and late-harvested merlot. Overripe dark fruit aromas dominated by new wood with plum-berry, chocolate and oak flavors accompanied by overpowering tannins. Very Good
Baglio di Pianetto, 2002 Piana del Cembali, Sicilia IGT - $32: Intense raspberry nose with wood overtones. Bright berry flavors balanced by sharp but pleasing acidity and nuances of licorice. New wood dries out the finish. Very Good
Benanti, 2000 Nerello Mascalese, Sicilia IGT - $29: This variety, the backbone of the Etna Rosso DOC, is breathtaking all on its own. Cherry and tobacco aromas with bright red berry and mineral flavors. Complex and elegant with fresh acidity and firm tannins. Will age wonderfully. Superb
Benanti, 2000 Serra della Contessa, Etna Rosso - $35: Aromas of marasca cherry and wild blackberry with light layers of well-integrated oak. Blackberry flavors tinged with minerals, spices and vanilla. Still young and austere with bracing tannins. Will be gorgeous in three to five years. Outstanding
Biondi, 2002 Outis, Etna Rosso - $32: Gorgeous aromas of ripe strawberry and roses with rich but elegant berry flavors; undertones of tobacco balanced by pleasing acidity and silky tannins. Superb
COS, 2002 Cerasuolo di Vittoria - $21: Enticing aromas of strawberry, cherry and earth with a truffle nuance. Cherry flavors with a long finish that shows off licorice notes. Superb
Donnafugata, 2001 Mille e Una Notte, Contessa Entellina - $60: A very modern take on this blend of 90 percent nero d'avola and 10 percent other local varieties. Inky black with overripe plum and new oak on the nose; big fruit flavors and lots of wood. More international than Sicilian. Very Good
Duca di Salaparuta, 2001 Duca Enrico, Sicilia IGT - $55: This 100 percent nero d'avola is a Sicilian classic. Nose of ripe berries, leather and smoke; rich fruit flavors laced with herbs and licorice. Balanced with sharp acidity, firm tannins and a lengthy finish. Complex and austere with serious aging potential. Outstanding
Gulfi, 2001 Neromaccarj IGT - $38: Attractive aromas of plum and earth with bold flavors of red berries and a long, licorice-spiked finish. This 100 percent nero d'avola will age well but soft tannins make it drinkable now. Superb
Gulfi, 2001 Nerosanlornzj, Sicilia IGT - $38: A 100 percent nero d'avola with intense blackberry nose and floral undertones. Gorgeous ripe berry flavors balanced by fresh acidity and soft tannins. Complex with great structure, this wine should evolve for years to come. Superb
Murgo, 2003 Etna Rosso - $15: Pretty nose of fresh strawberry and roses. Fresh berry flavors, balanced by pleasing acidity and soft tannins. A perfect dinner companion. Very Good
Palari, 2001 Faro - $55: Elegant blend of nerello mascalese, nerello cappuccio and nocera. Bright berry fruit and rose fragrances with hints of earthiness, tobacco and sea salt. Delicious, beautifully balanced cherry flavors and hints of vanilla and spice. More refined than the same blend from Etna. Superb
Palari, 2002 Rosso del Soprano, Sicilia IGT - $37: Younger brother of Faro with the same grapes but matured in Faro's used barriques and stainless steel. Fresh strawberry and pleasant earthy aromas with hints of truffle. Beautifully balanced with refined flavors of tart marasca cherry and blackberry with a long, nutty finish and a hint of vanilla. Outstanding
Planeta, 2004 Cerasuolo di Vittoria - $12: A blend of nero d'avola and frappato. Loads of strawberry and cherry aromas on the nose. Fresh, juicy berry flavors and undertones of Mediterranean spices. This is the little black dress of Sicilian wines - it goes with everything. Very Good
Planeta, 2002 Santa Cecilia, Sicilia IGT - $38: Mouthwatering aromas of ripe blackberry and prune with cinnamon and licorice undertones along with a pleasing earthiness. Rich flavors of black fruit and spices fill the mouth completely with concentrated but soft tannins. Superb
Tasca d'Almerita, 2003 Lamuri, Sicilia IGT - $22: A 100 percent nero d'avola with a dark berry and herbaceous nose. Bright berry flavors tinged with herbs and a peppery finish. Very Good
Tasca d'Almerita, 2003 Regaleali Nero d'Avola, Sicilia IGT - $15: Lovely black cherry nose and raspberry flavors balanced by crisp acidity and building tannins. This 90 percent nero d'avola is food friendly and remains a great value. Very Good
Tasca d'Almerita, 2001 Rosso del Conte, Contea di Sclafani - $50: Nero d'avola with a bit of perricone is Tasca's and Siciliy's flagship wine. Complex nose of ripe wild berries and floral aromas with hints of tobacco and vanilla. Luscious blackberry flavors with a long spice and licorice finish balanced by refreshing acidity and firm tannins. Superb
Valle dell'Acate, 2003 Cerasuolo di Vittoria - $20: Rich fragrance of blackberry and raspberry with floral overtones. Attractive berry flavors mixed with spices and herbal accents. Smooth, spicy finish with silky tannins. Very Good - KO
