How many life-changing moments is a person likely to encounter? I just returned from the trip to Sicily and can honestly say it feels life-changing, so much so that upon my return I bought several Sicilian wines, including a few Marsalas for both tasting and cooking. And I Googled “recipes utilizing Marsala” and found a lovely recipe for shrimp Marsala. I opened a white and a red wine while cooking, enjoying the flavors from the wines and the intoxicating aromas from the stovetop.
Sicily has been on my bucket list for decades and it finally happened. I was invited to the annual Sicilia en Primeur 2026 promoted by Assovini Sicilia to taste new wine releases of Sicily, to meet the owners and winemaker, and to learn about this beguiling island. The Greeks, Romans, Vandals, Ostrogoths, Byzantines, Moors, Arabs and Normans all were attracted to the fertile and volcanic soils of Sicily and lived and ruled there, forever leaving their mark and culture, their architecture and their style. Then England, Spain, France and Italy passed it around until finally it landed under Italian dominion. Today Sicily holds seven UNESCO sites and Pantellaria has two UNESCO Intangible Heritage Concepts — one for training the Zibibbo white grape vines into bush vines, which are planted into 14-inch deep divot hollows below the soil surface to help keep the plants’ profile low.
The second is for the Art of Dry Stonewalling, also designed to mitigate the island’s aggressive and predictable wind. The five-day event was choreographed with precision, giving the 100 wine journalists from 30-plus countries a chance to meet, taste and return home with an understanding of all things Sicilian. There were conferences explaining the history of their island’s wine flavors and culture. Next was a speed tasting (think speed dating) with producers and their current vintages. You sat, tasted, had a quick dialogue and moved on to the next winemaker you may have chosen. The following day was a technical tasting with a master list of 343 Sicilian and Pantellerian wines. The taster could ask the sommelier for any wine by producer, grape, region, vintage or price. It was a brilliant opportunity to deep-dive into these wines and explore the many differences between the grapes and regions of the area.
Days four and five we were broken up into smaller, more intimate groups for tours of cultural centers, medieval city centers and, of course, wineries. It felt like I won the lottery when I saw the wineries I would be visiting. On my list was a side trip to the island of Pantellaria to meet with José Rallo of Donnafugata winery. The following day we flew back to Palermo to have a vineyard tour, tasting and dinner at Fazio Winery and then to Gorghi Tondi Winery. All of these wines I had explored in the technical tasting room and some in the speed tasting room so I had developed some familiarity with them.
I had met José Rallo on the opening night at our small dinner table of eight. And then again at a large dinner at an unfinished Roman Catholic church where construction began in 1506. (Those laidback Sicilians.) On the island of Pantelleria, we had a late dinner with José and our group had a chance to taste different vintages of the Donnafugata Ben Ryé, a sun-dried Passito, or dessert wine, with food.
Each of these Zibibbo wines showed honeyed lemon and a restrained and balanced sweetness with a velvety loveliness. The 2022 Isolano from the Carricante grape near Mt. Etna had a perfumy bright lemon zestiness – very refreshing. Another Donnafugata wine, Lighea Zibibbo from 2025, showed bright and fresh citrus with a vibrant fruitiness. And the Donnafugata Sul Vulcano from 2021, crafted from the Nerello Mascalese grape, offered soft prune flavors and fig with a pleasant mouthfeel.
Back on mainland Sicily, we stopped at Casa Vinicola Fazio for a tour, a tasting and a beautiful homemade dinner at the Fazio family home. First, we jumped in the back of a pickup truck to the high point of the property to enjoy the views and see the layout of the vineyards followed by a tour of the olive trees the family planted. We were then brought to a beautiful tasting room to explore nine wines:
Fazio Blanc de Blancs — A dry, pleasant Chardonnay with a crisp, citrus flavor that includes orange peel.
Fazio Greber — A mostly Zibibbo, a sweetish white tasting of tropical fruit and orange blossom.
Fazio Solis Bianco — Winery co-owner Lilly Fazio’s favorite white wine, its gripping acidity offering lemon, grapefruit and subtle rosemary.
Fazio Mϋller Thurgau, featuring crisp lemon, good aromatics and a velvety mouthfeel.
Fazio Silvaris — A yummy vintage with fresh pomegranate, ripe cranberry and a deep garnet color.
Fazio Solis Rosso — A big hearty aromatic red with pleasant tannins.
Fazio Nero D’Avola — A dry yet sweet fruity wine.
Fazio Luce D’Oriente — A spicy Syrah replete with dark cherry, blackberry and ripe blueberry.
Fazio Cartesiano Rosso — A noble grape blend with some Nero D’Avola tasting of red cherry and other fresh fruits.
All of these wines are well made with enduring and endearing flavors that will capture your attention
Tenuta Gorghi Tondi was our final visit. Owned and operated by two sisters, Annamaria and Clara Sala, the vineyard abuts a nature preserve with a lake they gifted to the state. We tasted a Catarratto from 2025 with bright aromatics, salinity, minerality and a citrus backbone.
The next pour was the Grillo Reserve from 2024, showing bright fresh lemon with a creamy, floral acidity. Zibibbo was up next with a bright lemon zest, dry and puckery. The sisters’ 2025 Frappato Dumè featured fresh red fruit, restrained aromatics and light tannins as an easy drinking red. The 2024 Perricone offered dark blackberry and great aromatics with ripe currants. Their Sorelle Sala from 2022 Rosso Riserva had dark pure flavors, black cherry and prune with dark currants. And finally, Tenuta Gorghi Tondi has the only Botrytis fungi-affected wine in Sicily. It transforms this raisin-y Grillo grape into a delicious sweet wine of poached pear and lemon creaminess.
Buy the wines, buy the olive oil, buy the large salt-preserved capers. The wines are all priced attractively and your dollars will go a long way, especially if you shop somewhere that offers case discounts. All of the Sicilian and Pantellerian wines I tasted are worthy, are interesting. They all overdeliver, and most have a reasonable alcohol level of 14% or less.
I was expecting to find some alcohol-hot wines from this southern region, but island altitude helps moderate the alcohol. So maybe my trip wasn’t profoundly life-changing. But I will return. There is much to explore historically, geographically, architecturally, artistically and gastronomically. Sicily: Talk to me. I need more.
Write me at doug@dougpaulding.com.
