How Sicily Became Ground Zero for Innovative & Organic Wines
You know those hip grandmothers who manage to be more progressive than women six decades younger with their fearless style and forward-thinking paradigm? Sicily is the hip grandma of the wine world.
The Southern Italian island has been one of the most sought-after sun-dappled patches of land—conveniently located at the crossroads of Europe and Africa—for millennia. Everyone from the Greeks, Romans, Phoenicians, Normans, Spaniards and more wanted, and for a time, possessed a piece of it. Their influence can be felt everywhere, from the food, to architecture, to ruins, and yes, the wine.
While organized viticulture has existed in Sicily since at least the eighth century B.C. when Greeks introduced widespread vine cultivation to the island, in many ways, Sicily’s current viticultural scene is more New World than Old. “Sicily has been selling tons of bulk wine everywhere in Italy and Europe for decades,” says Italian wine expert Filippo Bartolotta. “Those wines were bulk wines or blending wines and the request was for big and bold. The late 90’s were all about jammy, extractive and round, so Sicily found its spot in the market with ‘international style wines.’ Today, Sicily is bottling its own wines and wine growers found out that a lot of the indigenous varieties in Sicily are actually light bodied.”
During much of the 20th century, largely due to economic challenges, wine-growing was approached as a commodity crop project intended for bulk wine, instead of a cultural point of pride, or a way to express this unique island’s shockingly diverse array of microclimates. As the economy’s stranglehold loosened, producers began to explore the more serious side of wine-growing and production—single estate bottling, wild instead of commercial yeast, biodynamic and organic farming.
Arguably one of the most significant developments came in 2012, with the establishment of the Consorzio di Tutela Vini DOC Sicilia, which was created with the sole goal of unifying, protecting and promoting Sicilian wine on the world stage.
Tying up Sicily into a neat, marketable package is no small task: Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, covering 15,820 square miles, 242,163 acres of which is under vine. To put that in perspective, that’s the about the same number of acres under vine in all of South Africa, and all of Germany. It’s three times the size of the acres of grapes farmed in New Zealand. Harvest, across the island, often takes 100 days to complete from start to finish. There are about 7,863 winegrowers and 504 winemakers (independent, co-op and negociant) across the island. That presents serious challenges to the average wine lover who just wants to know—at least broadly—what to expect when seeking out a Sicilian wine.
The Perfect Climate for Organic Wine-Growing
But what really makes Sicily both stand out from the increasingly crowded field of progressive, cutting-edge regions, and make its broad identity more bite-sized and digestible, is its climate—low rainfall, arid, easy-breezy, Mediterranean. Sicily, writ large, seems designed for organic agriculture, bristling with old and unsung varietals suitable for low-intervention winemaking. “The dry climate and the consistently windy conditions make it a perfect place for organic grape production,” says Bartolotta. “It happens to be fashionable right now, but it is also easier to do here than many other wine-growing regions. And the human influence, from Phoenicians to the Etruscans, to the Greeks on the viticulture here, means that the biodiversity of the grapes in Sicily is unparalleled. Winemakers these days, are more likely than ever to let those grapes speak clearly, without the influence of oak.”
The Evolution of Wine-Growing in Sicily
But it took several decades of evolution to go from cranking out bulk wine to make terroir-driven single estate bottles of grapes that sommeliers adore and the average wine-lover may not know how to pronounce. “In the 1980s, a lot of international varieties were planted,” Bartolotta explains. “Powerful Sicilian families were bringing in famous enologists to figure out what would work here. And at that point, the world was accustomed to drinking Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Syrah. They wanted aromas and colors they were used to.”
In the early aughts, winemakers and growers began experimenting in earnest with ancient varieties that had historically thrived in Sicily, but were being left behind. Modern winemaking, Bartolotta says, really began then.
The Modern Era in Sicily & Rediscovery of Native Grapes
“That’s when you saw producers dig into the terroir, literally, and begin to explore how different native grapes expressed themselves differently, from site to site, and region to region,” he says. “That’s also when the industry elsewhere began to see what Sicily was capable of.”
Indeed, more than 70 varieties are grown on the island, with a greater focus on indigenous as opposed to international grapes with each passing year, most winemakers favor wild yeast instead of commercial, and most of the fermenting and aging of grapes happens in stainless steel, instead of wood or amphora. What you taste in the glass is the land of Sicily, not the hand of the winemaker.
Several grapes have risen to prominence in Sicily, including whites like grillo, catarratto, inzolia, and reds like nerello mascalese, frappato and nero d’Avola, though internationals like chardonnay and syrah also thrive there.
The two grapes that seem to hold the most promise for both the international market and happen to reflect Sicily’s terroir and its producers’ paradigm are grillo and nero d’Avola.
“With grillo, you get a crunchy and vertical white,” Bartolotta says. “Nero d’Avola can be a structured wine with aging potential, but without oak, it’s an easy-drinking and fun red.”
Two producers in particular embody the diversity and symphony of flavor available in Sicily. At Riofavara, perched on the Southern tip of Sicily, the Padova family has been farming grapes for almost a century. In 1993, they began making their own wine. Over lunch with winemaker Massimo Padova, and his daughter Clementina, we discussed their incredible dedication to both the terroir and the wine.
“It is all connected,” Massimo explains, of his decision to farm organically, use wild yeast, harvest by hand. “The climate is changing, and I see it as a responsibility to do my part to care for the earth and explore ancient varieties that have been abandoned by most vine-growers, even here. Some of these grapes, like Orizi, can grow in desert conditions, complete drought, and still produce bright flavors. The white calcareous soils we have in our vineyards also help give them energy, juiciness and retain acidity.”
Marzaiolo photo credit Kathleen Willcox
Riofavara’s Marzaiolo, made from the three indigenous whites—Inzolia, Greganico and Moscato—was incredibly crisp and refreshing, but aromatic, and complex. It’s notoriously difficult to pair wine with anything involving a lot of tomatoes, but Massimo’s soup-style caponata (made with local olives and almonds too), paired beautifully with it. While I can’t recreate Massimo’s tomato magic at home, I can certainly import his Marzaiolo for pasta night.
I also visited La Giasira, which was launched in 2004 by Giovanni and Isabella Boroli. They purchased the 14th century estate and quickly realized that the calcareous soils were calling for grapes. Currently, the 320 acres include native plantings like nero d’Avola, moscato bianco, grillo, catarratto, but also 3,000 olive trees, hundreds of ancient carob trees, 2,000 almond trees and hundreds of citrus trees.
Everything is farmed organically.“Our goal with Giasira is to celebrate the great bounty of Sicily,” says Isabella. “Respect for the environment and pride in what this land is capable of guides all of our decisions. But we are also eager to share our wines with the world, because the economic success and sustainability of Sicily is important too.”
Tasting Giasira’s ephemeral grillo and nero d’Avola, it’s difficult to imagine how the world could resist. The grillo, fresh, an intense burst of Sicilian lemons, Mediterranean herbs, light spice, pairs perfectly with locally caught fish, farm-fresh salads, cheese. The nero d’Avola, intense blackberries, ripe plums, tobacco, present and persistent but not overt tannins, works beautifully with any of the many hand-made, toothsome pasta dishes you find in Sicily, sometimes with meat, but just as often without.
The market is certainly here for it. Exports of Sicilian wine grew double digits year-over-year in the first month of 2021, according to Wine Monitor’s most recent report. Whites in particular are favored, increasing by 45%.
For the first time perhaps ever, not only will a retailer or restaurant know what you mean when you ask for a grillo in the U.S., they may even have a crunchy, refreshing, food-friendly glass available. Go out and get a taste of La Dolce Vita yourself!