Italiano
Sicily’s second spring
Sicily’s wine renaissance took place in two distinct phases: the first came with the proliferation of noble or international varietals which some producers interpreted in a skillful and masterly way and helped put Sicily into the limelight and contradict the common belief that it just produced rough wines. These wines were made in an opulent style that was very similar to the one popular in the New World, Australia and the United States. In other words, using long maceration of the grapes and at times an invasive use of wood. Even wines made from native grapes, above all Nero d’Avola, leaned in this direction. This resulted in a great success both at home and abroad and some producers became international stars: Planeta, Donnafugata, Cusumano, Regaleali and Firriato are just a few of the names that road this wave and, in effect, helped create it.
Over the past decade, producers have been exploring different approaches, also in consideration of changing market trends with a decline in interest in the ‘French-style’ wines. These changes did not catch Sicily off guard because there was already trend towards native varietals which were now being cultivated with greater attention to quality through important research, especially for white wine grapes like Inzolia, Catarratto and Grillo. Carricante has also been at the center of important studies even if its cultivation is limited to the interior of Sicily, the area around Mt. Etna about which we will talk another time. All we will say now is that the area is of fundamental importance for Sicily above all in the collective imagination of wine trendies and the export market.
I had the opportunity to witness the results of the second phase of Sicily’s wine revolution at Sicilia en primeur, a wonderful event that took place in two stages. The first involved a choice of tours through a number of winemaking areas with visits to wineries. The second stage was held this year at humungous Verdura Gold & Spa Resort in Sciacca and involved an impressive tasting of several hundred wines. For the tour I put myself in the hands of the Gheusis agency, which handles arrangements for Assovini in this first stage. I asked them to send me anywhere that was not Etna or any or the islands and added that I did not want to visit any well-known winery. I was thus sent to the Belice Valley, the scene of devastating 1968 earthquake, where I discovered four very interesting estates. I have already written about one and will do so with the others in the near future. I also met a very skilled enologist, Angelo Rubino, who impressed me with some of the whites he produces.
The second stage was tiring because it was impossible taste with any continuity sitting at a table. And while the tasting room was perfectly organized, it was not big enough and they do the tastings in shifts. I can understand why producers prefer that journalists go from table to table but this takes time and it becomes impossible to sample everything. Perhaps a more democratic approach would be better.
