Of all the Italian wine-growing regions, the beautiful island of Sicily has probably undergone the most astonishing and also the most rapid development. Until the 1980s, Sicily was still a mass, commercial wine-growing region whose red wines were often bought up by France for blending into their own vins de table, primarily because of their dark colour. Today, Sicily is virtually a "grab bag" of first-class producers with a large number of remarkable wines. This is despite the fact that Sicily, with approximately 180,000 hectares under vine, shares with Puglia the largest wine-growing area in Italy.
The warm dry climate with its particular diurnal variation, as well as the poor, stony and in some places volcanic soils, offer excellent conditions for viticulture. In addition, Sicily also has a lot to offer in terms of indigenous grape varieties, especially the red Nero d'Avola. In addition to this smooth, full-bodied and, in the best cases, very interesting red wine, finely aromatic and fragrant varieties such as Inzolia and Catarratto can also provide white wines that are among the best in the nation.
In addition, there are other very distinctive specialities, such as the red grape variety Nerello Mascalese or the Zibibbo, a variety of Muscat.
Sicily has also received an enormous boost in quality from many high investments, which have enabled modern wineries and the commitment of highly qualified winemakers. Certainly, the realisation that the best wines grow at higher altitudes was also decisive. Today, the vineyards reach over 900 meters above sea level. The meteoric rise of the Planeta pizza company has also found many imitators.
Etna Rosso, a wine from the slopes of the Etna volcano, is a special wine, as is the noble sweet Moscato di Pantelleria from the small island of Pantelleria, which belongs to Sicily. The traditional Marsala also deserves a mention.
