Sicilia

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• The relief of Sicily displays sharp contrasts between a predominantly mountainous northern portion, a hilly centre-south and south-west, a plateau in the south-eastern zone, and a volcanic area in eastern Sicily.
• The hydrographic network is highly complex, with numerous watercourses of torrential regime and short, rapid course, and river valleys that are for the most part narrow and deeply incised in the mountainous zone, and noticeably more open in the hilly zone.
• Sicilian lithological formations include a volcanic complex associated with Etna and the ancient volcanic rocks of the Iblean area, together with sandy-calcarenitic, clayey-marly, and evaporitic complexes.
• In the coastal environment the climate is mild, with a mean annual temperature of around 18 °C and mean annual rainfall of 400–500 mm in the provinces of Trapani, Palermo, and Agrigento, with precipitation reduced or almost absent during the warm season.
• In the Etna area the climate is humid, with rainfall of 600–800 mm on the northern slope at lower elevations, exceeding 1,200 mm at higher altitudes, and with the eastern slope receiving more precipitation than the western.
• In inland Sicily and on the Iblean Plateau the mean annual temperature exceeds 15 °C, with average summer maximum temperatures reaching 29 °C and annual rainfall as low as 400 mm.

• The Phoenicians, between the ninth and fourth centuries BC, traded oil and wine, as attested by transport amphorae and ceramics such as bilobate jugs and carinated cups used for wine consumption.
• During Muslim rule, between 827 and 1061, despite the Quranic prohibition on consuming alcohol, the grape variety Zebib — today known as Zibibbo or Moscato di Alessandria — was introduced on Pantelleria.
• The English merchant John Woodhouse opened a winery at Marsala and developed the trade of Marsala wines with England; Benjamin Ingham likewise opened several establishments at Marsala and Mazara.
• In 1862 Garibaldi visited the Florio establishment and praised the sweet Marsala, which from that point onwards was called 'Garibaldi dolce'.
• Only training systems of vertical trellis (controspalliera) or bush vine (alberello) are permitted among the vine-training forms specified for the appellation's vineyards. (via Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0)

• The production regulations state that all wine types display balanced physicochemical characteristics that contribute to their overall gustatory balance.
• Across all wine types, pleasant, harmonious, distinctive, and elegant aromas are found, with possible fruity, floral, and herbal notes typical of the base grape varieties.

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.

All appellations in Italy

Sources

• Specification (EUR-Lex, single document)
• eAmbrosia register (EU) — File number PDO-IT-A0801
• Official trade body site — Consorzio di Tutela Vini DOC Sicilia