Italy: Sicily

Sicily is an ancient volcanic island. Its oenological history is an ancient one, dating from the time when the island was part of Magna Graecia. One of the first inhabited areas of Italy, Sicily was named after the ancient Siculians who introduced agriculture and animal husbandry in the 3rd millennium B.C.

Sicily has more vineyards than any of the other Italian regions competing with Apulia for first place as the largest wine producer. Yet, Sicilians consume less wine per capita than any other Italian.

Many grapes are made into raisins, used in local cooking, and Sicilian grapes also play a large role in creating dessert wines, which require a higher concentration of grapes and are consumed in smaller quantities. In fact, in the world of international wine, Sicily is renowned for the many outstanding dessert wines, such as the world famous Marsala.

Though dessert wines account for about 90% of the total DOC production, we shouldn't disregard the several good reds and whites that are produced all over the island by both large producers

One usually associates fine wines with western Sicily or the areas near Mount Etna, but many new wineries have sprung up across the island. The magic is in the fertile soil and Sicily's long, cloudless summers, with humidity but virtually no rain from June until harvesting in late August, two factors which make Sicilian vintages remarkably consistent from year to year.