SICILY: A TOUR OF ITS TERROIR
Sicily’s southeast is the furthest extent of the African tectonic plate that pushes on the Eurasian plate and emerges from under the sea. Vines here have their roots in the robust, sandy, loamy carbonate base, giving whites based on Inzolia (Ansonica) or Moscato a mineral character, and reds that are very light, salty and reactive with strong floral notes. Frappato, airy and floral, is often mixed with Nero d’Avola in a classic blend of the only Sicilian DOCG, Cerasuolo di Vittoria.
In the northeast, altitudes exceed 1,000 metres with the wines of Etna, the largest active volcano in Europe. To its north lie the metamorphic rocks on whose soils Nerello Mascalese, Nero d’Avola and Nocera grow to give transparent and energetic ruby-red wines.
It’s the western part of the island, however, where 85% of Sicily’s wine is produced and where there are myriad terroirs: the clay hills of the northwest with important chalky and calcareous veins that give structure and generous flavour; the stretches of looser sandy soils of the extreme western tip where once Carricante and Grillo (the backbone of Marsala) were harvested overripe and vinified in an oxidative style, but today appear as whites vinified in a reduced style with strongly mineral and crunchy traits. Down in the southwest, the micro-terroirs of the Menfi area deserve an article all to themselves. On the coast, the scenic Scala dei Turchi (‘Turkish steps’), a bright white, limestone-marl stepped cliff, rises up out of the sea.
The central-western area is characterised by a coastal area with sandy limestone terraces that give more saline and savoury wines, and inland areas of more impervious hills where soils with a more significant presence of clay emerge. Here, Nero d’Avola is typically more structured and powerful than in the southeast, although in recent years the wines have developed a juicier and more contrasted side. Grillo from vineyards of altitude shows a richer profile with almost Sauvignon Blanc-like pyrazine aromas. These are vertical whites, tense, with a strong acid component; but as you near the coastal sands they turn more savoury and almost saline.
The small islands off the coast of Sicily, volcanic in nature, are known for aromatic white wines that in the past were almost all vinified sweet, but now also as dry wines – and deliver strong gastronomic traits.