Wine region: Italy, Sicilia

The recent introduction of Azienda Benanti, one of the leading Etna estates, has swelled our Sicilian portfolio to no fewer than nine producers.

A large island with huge production, much of it mediocre to say the least, Sicily’s wine culture is patchy. Ten to fifteen years ago you would have been hard pressed to name a great producer. Now there are several, but their achievements are self-driven; these are men and women who have individually either rediscovered tradition or injected a dose of modernity into their methods, rather than a concerted movement.

Benanti has vineyards with differing micro-climates dotted around various expositions of the Etna slopes. This estate is somewhat of a specialist of the Carricante grape, the vines grown as alberello. Bianco Pietramarina is a superb high altitude cru Carricante made from lower yields with densely planted 80 year old vines. The colour of the wine is pale yellowish with greenish tints, the scent: intense, rich and fruity suggestive of orange and lemon flowers, and ripe apple. It is dry, with pleasant acidity, great aromatic persistence and an aftertaste of anise and almond and a definite mineral undertow. We will also be listing two Benanti reds both made from Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio, namely Rosso di Verzella and Rosso Rovittello.

A relative newcomer to the Etna region Frank Cornelissen is responsible for the some of the most edgy, volatile wines you are ever likely to taste.  Magma has it roots, in every sense of the word, in the thin acidic soil of the terrain. It is both highly cerebral and utterly natural, the realisation of a passionate endeavour to “make” a wine which is entirely unmediated and unmasked. It is a nice argument to ponder whether a wine can be so natural that it is effectively unnatural and every person would have to assess whether they desire the expression of absolute truth or the function of absolute drinkability. By recognising its fragility and serving the wine sympathetically one’s palate can align itself to Magma’s individual foibles and quirks. Frank also makes Munjebel white and red, the former a blend of Carricante, Grecanico and Coda di Volpe, the latter being pure Nerello Mascalese. All the wines are made without sulphur and aged in amphorae; they are also unfiltered – if you hold the Munjebel white up to the light it looks like a lava lamp – very appropriate.

In the splendid Villa Geraci seat of the new Palari Winery, proprietor Salvatore Geraci has devoted himself to the production of his ancient and noble wine with the objective of reviving (assisted by the help of modern technology) that quality that has made “Il Faro” famous throughout the world. The vineyard lies in the “Palari” wine district of S. Stefano, Messina, and is planted with native grapevines of names as old as the fascination they evoke: Nerello, Nocera, Cappuccino, Tignolino, Cor’e Palumba, Acitana, Galatena and others.... All of which are embraced by the regulations for the production of the Faro DOC.

The terrain is blessed with a unique microclimate – due to its dramatic rise of altitude of 420 metres above sea level within just five kilometres. It is set up with “alberello” head-pruned trellis and has a medium slope of 78 degrees requiring the grapes to be gathered and placed into 20 kg baskets by hand. Because of this labour-intensive requirement and the rigid selection which the grapes must undergo, the total yield of grapes for each plant is only 1 kg. The soft-pressing of the grapes, the temperature-controlled fermentation, the aging in French ok barrels, and the refinement in air-conditioned rooms – all carefully monitored under the watchful eye of the winemaker Donato Lanati – make possible the creation of this important wine of such noble and old tradition.

The primary wine to be featured from Palari is Faro. Here the wine includes a finer selection of the same grapes to make this a perennial Tre Bicchieri winner. Faro (which means lighthouse) is a little DOC, almost the smallest in Italy. With just above 6 hectares (15 acres) in the DOC area, the production is clearly tiny. Sicily’s increasing focus on modern production techniques and international varieties has had some great success, as at the Planeta estate; but Palari provides a refreshing respite from this trend with their great indigenous wines. Faro has a ruby colour with a hint of purple. The nose is beautifully knit, black cherry to the fore and lightly smoky nuances shimmering in the background. It is remarkably elegant with a complete lack of over-ripeness that characterises many southern Italian reds.

The natural wines of COS perfectly exemplify the quality of the region of Vittoria in southern Italy. The speciality of the region is Cerasuolo (“cherry”), a characteristic floral blend of Frappato (40%) and Nero d’Avola (60%). COS have moved over the years to biodynamic methods in the vineyard and away from oak to the use of terracotta amphorae and the wines have consequently changed radically in style. We admire their Pithos (a Cerasuolo fermented in amphora), the Cerasuolo Classica and the Nero di Lupo (a youthful meaty Nero d’Avola) as well as the pure Frappato with its aromas of violets, cherryblossom and carob.

The rest of our wineries are situated on the west of the island around Alcamo and Marsala. Ceuso has acquired a reputation for their red wines made from Nero d’Avola. The Scurati is an unoaked version of this grape and exhibits lovely, velvety fruit. The Ceuso itself, a blend of Nero d’Avola, Cabernet and Merlot, is lush and plummy, balanced by ferrous tannins. An example of modern Sicily and a far cry from the cooked red wines of yore.  Fazio is located in the Marsala countryside. The winery makes a variety of wines from local and international varieties including a particularly good Grillo. Perhaps the most unusual intruder is the Muller-Thurgau grown at altitude which has the acidic credentials of a wine from Alto-Adige! Caruso & Minini make a range of single varietals including a floral Grecanico and citric Inzolia, but their most interesting wine is a red called Sachia di Perricone from the traditional Perricone grape (otherwise known as Pignatello). It tastes likes a rich Barbera.

Marco De Bartoli is considered one of Sicily’s winemaking pioneers for his long-standing commitment to the native Sicilian white grape varieties, Grillo and Zibibbo. He produces them on two separate estates: the first in Marsala, in Sicily’s south-west corner, the other on the small island of Pantelleria, south-east of Sicily. His belief in the value of traditional methods of production of these grapes and their wines is complemented by his equally strong belief in the future of Sicily as one of Europe’s most vital viticultural areas. Grillo, which historically forms the basis of Marsala’s classic wines, has been grown on the island since Phoenician times. From his Samperi winery, in the Contrada Samperi just west of Marsala, Marco De Bartoli produces several wines from this grape. “Vecchio Samperi” was first made in 1980. Named for the territory that houses De Bartoli’s country estate, it is a prestigious “Vergine” wine made using the traditional solera method, in which small quantities of young wine are added to wines of older vintages as they pass through a sequence of wooden barrels. The complex, harmonious result celebrates the fruit of many harvests.

As well as the magnificent dry and just off-dry Marsalas and the brilliant passito “Bukkuram” from Pantelleria, de Bartoli has been trying to work with indigenous white grape varieties and realise their full potential by capturing the natural flavour of wine using native yeast, extended skin contact and minimal sulphur during the vinification. Out of this ambition was born the Integrale range of white wines (a Zibibbo, a Grillo and a Grecanico). One’s initial impression is of the uncompromising purity of the wine in the mouth – no corners have been cut, no corners of the palate will remain unchallenged by the wine.

Sicily’s history of colonization can be viewed by examining not only its architecture and language, but also its cuisine. The Greeks were the first to impose a culinary influence, and in a sense, Sicilian cooking is a microcosm of Italian cooking in general in that it absorbed and subsequently embellished such influences and developed a cuisine based on simple yet high quality local ingredients such as fish and vegetables. During the Arab colonization, nearly a thousand years later, new foods and new methods of cooking were introduced: the Saracens brought aubergines, spinach, bitter oranges, almonds, rice, apricots, sugar and sultanas as well as the techniques for making sorbet (sherbet). Next came the Normans with their methods of cooking, and of preserving fish and meat

Pasta is extremely popular. It is dressed in a rich sauce and showered with grated pecorino or with salted ricotta (a local speciality). Pesto alla Trapanese is plum and sun-dried tomatoes pureed with garlic, almonds, basil, oregano and pecorino and served with pasta twists called casareccia. The wonderfully named Zogghiu is a refreshing amalgam of parsley, mint, balsamic vinegar and capers – delicious with lamb or skate. Fish and pasta is particular Sicilian marriage, the best-known example being pasta with sardines and fennel. Again there are innumerable local variants of this dish. The other favourite way to serve pasta is with vegetables, especially aubergines. As cookery writers never tire of telling us we can’t get the wonderful small round purple Sicilian aubergines in this country. Were we able to we would undoubtedly try to replicate Bellini’s masterpiece, pasta alla Norma, with aubergine, tomato and salted ricotta or caponata, an eggplant stew, which like rose from a Mediterranean country, always tastes infinitely better in situ.

Fish is plentiful and the markets teem with the fruit (di mare) of the Sicilian seas. Swordfish deserving of the barbecue lie down with octopus; mullet, striped mackerel, sardines and anchovies are plentiful. Fish may be steamed, grilled or baked, but simplicity is always observed in the preparation because the ingredient is king, a tenet laid down by the Syracusan Archestratus, whose 4th century culinary notes predate those of Delia Smith as the earliest known to western civilization.

Sicilian sorbets and ice creams and other dolce (such as cassata and pasta reale) are brilliant. Wonderful quality of fruit combined with proud tradition ensures their reputation. Pleasures to be enjoyed with the great sweet wines of Pantelleria. 

The wondrous Marsalas of Marco de Bartoli are not for the snappers up of unconsidered trifles. In fact, avoid the word trifle at all costs. These are glorious delicate nutty wines with needle-thread acidity and mellow warmth designed to sip and toast a Sicilian sunset. Or a Sydenham sunset.