Sicilian Idyll

In early March, I finally made it to Sicily. I wasn’t disappointed. It’s a magical island, the largest in the Med, fascinating in its traces of Moorish, Norman and Piedmontese domination down the centuries. And it has magnetic attractions all its own: dramatic mountains, deep blue seascapes, historic Baroque cities, fabulous fish markets and spectacular food, especially the sauced fish pastas and the desserts. There are vineyards everywhere, of course, the grapes on the plains ripening too quickly under a fierce summer sun. So it’s not surprising that the best Sicilian wines come from cooler vineyards at higher altitudes.

Travel east to the hills below Etna for Sicily’s most elegant reds. Overlooking the straits of Messina, the legendary wine Il Faro has been made here since at least 1400 BC. The vineyards were devastated by the phylloxera bug at the beginning of the 20th century and production had slumped so badly by 1985 that the wine was in danger of extinction. Now Salvatori Geraci, owner of the new Palari winery, is reviving the production of this ancient wine with the help of modern technology. But it’s still made from old local grape varieties with evocative names like ‘Nerelo Cappuccino’, Cappuccino referring to the white hoods of the winemaking monks, not to a cup of frothy coffee! Il Faro is another vineyard with a special microclimate, cultivated at an altitude of 2,000 feet. The 2004 (£26.50, Caves de Pyrène 01483 554750) has a lustrous ruby/purple colour and smells beautifully of black cherries with a whiff of smoky oak. The palate is stylishly poised with a mouthwatering fruitiness, but none of the cooked, overripe flavours of many South Italian reds. The Rosso del Soprano is a gentler priced alternative from the Palari winery (£14.05). Caves de Pyrène say it tastes like a cross between a meaty Pinot Noir and a sun-drenched Grenache. Sounds to me like a great wine for a veal chop with rosemary grilled over charcoal.

Back to Marsala, the little port on the far western shores of Sicily, where Garibaldi and his band of a thousand red shirts landed on May 11, 1860, triggering Italian unification. Marsala is, of course, home to one of the world’s best fortified wines, on par with great fino and oloroso sherry from Jerez. Marsala’s finest exponent is Dr. Marco de Bartoli, who has been rock-solid in his commitment to West Sicily’s most distinctive grapes – ‘Grillo’, the base for the best Marsala, and ‘Zibbibo’, better known as ‘Muscat of Alexandria’. His Pietra Nera 2006 is a blossom-scented dryish white wine made from pure ‘Zibbibo’ (£13.25, Caves de Pyrène). Yet its discreet, opulent flick of sweetness makes it an ideal partner for the spice and herb touches of Sicilian fish cooking: as good as with aromatic fish soup as with grilled swordfish or sea bream and fennel. Grapolo di Grillo 2005 for the same price has a nice focus and intensity, marrying lemon and honey tastes quite bold enough for steamed lobster and crab. ‘Grillo’ reaches its peak in Bartoli’s Vecchia Samperi (£22.95), an exquisite example of the rare ‘Vergine’ style of old Marsala, very different from the commercial blends of today. With an average age of forty years, it’s made by the solera system. Using a nursery of many barrels, Bartoli regularly “tops up” his oldest wines with ones from the next oldest vintage; newer ones are added at a proper stage of maturity in a process of perpetual blending. The wine is intense, dry, mellow but finely balanced: do try it with aged pecorino cheese or any really mature hard cheeses like farmhouse Cheddar. Or again chill it slightly as an aperitif with a garlic-infused brandade of cod.

Report by Michael Edwards, Wine Editor