White wines : Sicilia

Sicily boasts one of Italy’s most progressive wine industries. The region noted chiefly in the past for strong and often sweet amber Marsala and Moscato has switched the emphasis toward lighter, fruitier wines. Sicily's Wine production has diminished recently to slightly less than that of Veneto. A major share of the DOC is represented by Marsala. It remains Sicily’s proudest wines.

In Sicily the only other DOC wine made in significant quantity is the pale white, bone dry Bianco d’Alcamo, which is now part of the broader Alcamo appellation. Moscato di Pantelleria is among the richest and most esteemed of Italian sweet wines in the Naturale and Passito Extra versions. Malvasia delle Lipari is a dessert wine as exquisite as it is rare. The dry white and red wines of Etna can show class, as can the pale red but potent Cerasuolo di Vittoria.

Production of the other traditional DOCs, the dry, red Faro and the sweet Moscatos of Noto and Siracusa, has been minimal in recent times. Methods of vine training in the sunny, temperate hills have been changed to reduce yields of grapes for wines of real character and individuality. Such international varieties as Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon and the Pinots show real promise in Sicily. But some of the island’s finest wines come from native varieties, notably Nero d’Avola (or Calabrese), Nerello Mascalese and Perricone (or Pignatello) and the reds and Inzolia and Grecanico among the whites.