Grape Variety: Grillo

Colour: White

An ancient variety used in one of Julius Caesar’s favourite wines, the sweet, luscious Mamertino of Messina in more recent times Grillo has toiled anonymously as the primary grape of Marsala, the strongly fortified, sherry-like sweet wine of western Sicily, which is better known to most of the world in the kitchen (as the base for dishes as varied as chicken Marsala and Zabaglione) than on the dining table. Shudder ye not.

In the postwar years, when the Sicilian wine industry sought to upgrade its image by modernizing what might politely be called a “traditional” status, Grillo enjoyed a brief resurgence and was planted widely, although in more recent decades, much of it has been ripped out in favour of more familiar varieties, with plantings falling to a relatively nominal 5,000 acres in the 1990s, according to Jancis Robinson.

Much of that output still goes into Marsala, and more of it goes into bland, neutral white wines, alas. But now and again, a Grillo-based white dramatically exceeds expectations, demonstrating that there’s real quality in this variety for the producer willing to make the effort to bring it out. Marco de Bartoli has helped in the resurrection of the reputation of this grape with some dry wines and superlative Marsalas in the traditional dry style.

His Grappoli del Grillo, for example, is golden, complex with well-defined aromas and distinct personality. As Maureen Ashley writes: “There is no doubt that Grillo is an ace grape. It ripens well under the burning sun; it doesn’t over-yield; it gets packed with sugar; it oxidises easily (a benefit for Marsala); and it has incomparable flavours”. This table wine is golden in colour, transparent but bright. Attractive and forward aromas, citric lemon-lime with a gentle whiff of wildflowers, are accented with grace notes of honey and almond. Full-bodied and ripe, flavours are consistent with the nose, crisp and pleasantly acidic. A touch of subtle minerality joins snappy citrus and delicate almond in a long finish. Try with tuna in a classic stemperata sauce (celery, garlic, green olives, capers and raisins).

Vecchio Samperi, an example of the rare Vergine/Soleras style, is aged using the fractional blending method known as solera, made famous in Jerez. Using a battery of progressively smaller casks, De Bartoli continually “tops up” his oldest wines with wines from the next-oldest vintage, with the newest wines going in the largest cask at the end of the battery. Vecchio Samperi is more than 40 years old, with the smoky, nutty complexity of a fine sherry. But Vecchio Samperi is unfortified, just as all Marsala was before the British came along towards the end of the 18th century and added spirit to it. The wine (from Grillo again) is dry, intense and mellow with flavours of chestnuts, brazil nuts and orange peel. Try it with aged pecorino cheeses, or maybe slightly chilled alongside some shellfish or other seafood as an aperitif. It is a rare treasure in the world of wine and is described by Marco as a “Vino Liquoroso secco”. Marco’s Marsalas are beautifully balanced with a touch of mistelle added to round out the flavours.