Modern Sicilian wines coming into their own
Sicily's ancient peoples - the Sicanians, Sicels, Elymians - - are lost to antiquity, but her ancient wine culture thrives, connecting Sicily's past and present to the future.
Beginning about 800 B.C., Sicily's central location in the Mediterranean Sea landed her in the international mainstream. Dionysus, God of Wine, shepherded the grape from Greece to Sicily - it is said - conveniently just ahead of Greek settlement of the island, circa 500 B.C. In 300 B.C., Roman historian Varrone documented 50 varieties of grapes planted throughout the island. Arabs arrived in the 800s A.D. and founded the city of Mars el'Allah, (literally "Port of Allah"), modern-day Marsala, made world-famous in the 1700s for its sweet fortified wine and countless chicken recipes.
A pioneer of another sort discovered Sicily during the modern world's wine boom. In 1972, Anthony J. Terlato, scion of Lake Bluff-based Terlato Wines International was intrigued by a bottle of the Sicilian brand Corvo, he ordered in a Rome ristorante.
He contacted Corvo with a challenge. "Now you're making Mouton Cadet. I believe you can make Mouton-Rothschild." Corvo's eono-technical director Franco Giascoa replied, "I'll try."
Giacosa stimulated a new direction in Sicilian wine, according to Terlato, as well as 1985's "Life Beyond Lambrusco" in which author Nicolas Belfrage chronicled Giacosa's 23 years at Corvo as "restless perfectionism - giving hope that Sicily's present overproduction will be replaced - sooner rather than later - by modest quantities of really good quality."
It's turned out to be later. Ironically, Sicily's fertile natural environment created a major obstacle for her fine wine industry.
Sicily rises 10,000 feet from the sea to Mount Etna, the largest active volcano in Europe. Between quiet beaches and rugged cliffs (the unforgiving landscape of "spaghetti Westerns") lie vast plains drenched by seven months of sunshine. Super-ripe grapes from these vineyards translate into staggering quantities of high alcohol and/or sweet wines with flavors like a berry burned with cooking instead of a berry picked from the vine. But durum wheat from these fields is of the highest quality, optimal for long-term storage on ancient sea voyages or modern transportation throughout Europe. As grain profits grew, wheat fields gobbled up vineyards.
But a handful of quality producers recognized Sicily's potential.
"Gianni was very clever," says Giacosa, referring to Gianni Zonin, president of Italy's largest private wine enterprise, with 4,440 acres under vine from the hip to the toe of Italy's boot. "He understands that wine starts with the land." With Giacosa as his technical director, Zonin purchased Principi di Butera and coastal vineyards with cool climate and chalky soil (in the newly designated Riesi DOC), producing powerful yet elegant wines.
As other quality-oriented producers (Donnafugata, Planeta and Baglio di Pianetto among them) followed suit, Sicily became known as "Italy's California;" a hub of experimentation, investment and quality.
"It's a slow process to create a feeling within people 'I want to drink a wine from Sicily,'" says Terlato. "People expect Sicilian wine to be 'red' or 'white'. They're surprised to see grape names like Insolia or Nero d'Avola.
"People expect Sicilian wine to be one-dimensional. We conduct blind tastings with the best sommeliers; they're shocked to find elegant flavors," he says. "People have trouble with the names. After all, Baglio di Pianetto (his group's current Sicilian property) is a mouthful. But after all, people learned how to pronounce Tignanello."
The wines of Sicily may not yet rival the greats such as Mouton-Rothschild or Tignanello (teen-ya-NELL-oe), but with wines like these listed below and others, the future looks bright for Sicilian wine.
Insolia, Principi di Butera ($12.99): "You feel the heart of Sicily with this wine," says Giacosa. Insolia is Sicily's native white grape, producing medium-bodied, exotic flavors of tropical fruits with fennel-like accents. Serve as a unique alternative to Chardonnay. Giacosa recommends pasta con le sarde - pasta (preferably bucatini) and sardines marinated with wild fennel and pine nuts, ingredients locally agreed to be prevention against intoxication.
Piana del Ginolfo, Baglio di Pianetto ($24): 100 percent Viognier with rich flavors of coconut and tropical fruits with fresh acidity and long, flavor finish.
Nero d'Avola, Principi di Butera ($14.99): Sicily's signature red grape expresses expansive flavors with unique blueberry-like fruit and herbal complexity. Serve with rich poultry, grilled vegetables and meats, such as agnello al forno (roasted leg of lamb.)
• Master Sommelier and Certified Wine Educator Mary Ross writes Good Wine twice a month. Contact her at food@dailyherald.com.
Ross' choice
Prosecco "Special Cuvee"
Zonin
Italy
Non-vintage
• Suggested retail and availability: About $12.99 at wine and spirits shops
Every lunch in Italy begins with prosecco. Delicately sparkling and delicious, with garden-like fragrance, off-dry flavors of fruits and raw almonds and long, refreshing finish, Zonin's Special Cuvee is the perfect ingredient for Bellini cocktails and complement to lighter fare such as egg dishes, salads with creamy dressing, lighter seafood and poultry. Guaranteed to make the simplest meal - even takeout - a festive occasion. Lunch, brunch or dinner anyone?