Sicily

Sicily is Italy's largest wine island and one of its most dynamic. The volcanic slopes of Mount Etna grow Nerello Mascalese for elegant, ash-tinged reds increasingly compared to Burgundy. Sun-baked western Sicily produces fuller Nero d'Avola reds and the historic fortified Marsala. Indigenous whites like Grillo and Catarratto have moved from bulk-blender duty to serious bottlings.

Famous appellations

• Etna
• Marsala
• Cerasuolo di Vittoria

History

Greek colonists planted vines here in the 8th century BCE. Marsala was developed in the late 18th century by English merchant John Woodhouse on the Madeira model, fortifying for the long voyage home. After a long mid-20th-century stretch of cooperative bulk wine, the 1990s and 2000s saw a quality renaissance led by producers like Planeta on the western half and a new wave of Etna estates on the volcanic east.