Sicilian wines are products of the highest quality and highly appreciated all over the world, but do you know their history?
Wine has accompanied the history of the island since the dawn of time and this is demonstrated by the fact that traces of ampelidee have been found in the Agrigento area, a family of plants to which the "Vitis vinifera" belongs, the species that produces the 'grapes for making wine, dating back even to the Cenozoic or Tertiary age, therefore 65 million years ago. Many grapes, now considered local, were introduced by the Phoenicians, but they are due to the Greeks, already consumers of this drink.
After the Roman Empire and with the advent of Christianity, the island lands became the property of the Church which supported the production of wine thanks to the monastic settlements, which played a key role in the modern development of enology. It is well known that wines and vines were essential for celebrating the Eucharist. With the Muslims the production of wine disappeared completely, because the Koran did not allow (and does allow) the consumption of alcohol. Only with the arrival of the Normans did wine re-emerge with a double meaning: sacred and profane.
John Woodhouse: 1773 a date to remember
In 1773, due to a bad storm, John Woodhouse , a merchant from Liverpool, landed at Marsala instead of Mazara del Vallo, where he was on his way to conclude a deal. To celebrate the narrow escape, he went to a tavern and there he was served Perpetuum , a strong wine, produced in those parts, similar to Madeira or Port, just what the English liked. The trader, tasting it, decided to bring some back to his city only that the wine would not hold up during the journey; what did? He added more alcohol, so as to increase the alcohol content and ensure the preservation of the wine until it reached its destination. Guess how it went? The wine was sold out.
This success made Woodhouse make an important decision: he immediately moved to Marsala to open his company. At the end of the 28th century Marsala wine was on all the ships of His Majesty George III. Even General Nelsol used to drink Sicilian wine after every victory!
From this moment on, the Sicilian wine trade also interested other English entrepreneurs, such as Benjamin Ingham and, later, his nephew John Whitaker .
And the Italians? Vincent Florio!
If your question is: "but sorry because no Italian has intercepted this hit?" we stop you because we have to wait for 1832. The Calabrian Vincenzo Florio had bought land on a stretch of beach located between the beams of Ingham and Woodhouse; here he built his Cellars which reflected the Anglo-Saxon style of the time, with large pointed arches and floors in "beaten" tuff dust. After about 20 years, Florio managed to establish itself by offering a quality Marsala.
In 1860 the Florio family helped the Garibaldians hide during the landing. The gesture was so appreciated by Garibaldi that he donated a collection of rifles to the family, still on display and clearly visible during a visit to the cellar. Despite being a teetotaler, he tasted the sweet version of Marsala, he liked it so much that he convinced the Florio family to dedicate the Garibaldi Superiore variant to him (no longer produced).
1800, the century of historic cellars
It was during the 19th century that the first Sicilian wineries were born: Duca di Salaparuta (1824), Amodeo (1837), Rallo (1860), Curatolo Arini (1875), Carlo Pellegrino (1880) and Lombardo (1881). The development of Sicilian viticulture during the 19th century was mainly concentrated in the Etna area; in 1880 Catania was the province with the most vineyards in Sicily with about 92,000 hectares and one million hectoliters of wine produced. The production was so important that they built the Circumetnea railway which allowed the connection with the port of Riposto, from which the wine took the sea route to other countries.
1970 DOC labelling
Among the DOC areas of Sicily the following stand out: Marsala, Pantelleria and Lipari. Two interesting DOC wines are: Moscato di Noto and Moscato di Siracusa. Among the red wines, the DOC areas that we can point out to you are: Cerasuolo di Vittoria, produced with Frappato grapes, and Faro, an area of sure interest but little exploited. Nero d'Avola is present in almost all the DOC areas of the island, confirming its importance.
As for the most common white berried grapes in the appellation areas of Sicily, the primacy belongs to Catarratto and Inzolia. In Sicily there are currently 19 DOCs , namely: Alcamo, Cerasuolo di Vittoria, County of Sclafani, Contessa Entellina, Delia Nivolelli, Eloro, Etna, Faro, Malvasia delle Lipari, Marsala, Menfi, Monreale, Moscato di Noto, Pantelleria, Moscato di Syracuse, Riesi, Sambuca di Sicilia, Santa Margherita di Belice and Sciacca.
