Sicilian wines are hot, hot, hot

I have tasted wines from all over the world over the decades, and the one indisputable trend of the industry is the quality has never been close to what it is today. This is due to selecting the appropriate grapes for the specific planting site, reducing grape yields per plant, morphing toward sustainable, organic production and reducing manipulation of the juice to let the fruit speak for itself. All of these practices, now largely employed worldwide, are bringing to market beautiful wines.  

I was recently invited to a luncheon in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood that featured wine pairings from Sicily. Award-winning owner and executive chef Alfred Portale crafted a menu to highlight and spotlight these wines, presented by sommelier Michael Dolinski, who spoke of Sicilian wines as if they have been his life’s work. Dolinski’s passion and depth of knowledge for the wines and the region were comprehensive and palpable.  

Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea and was heavily influenced by Greece, Italy and Spain over time. Architecture, forms of government, food and wine were introduced and sometimes imposed on the island. Sicily finally merged with the kingdom of Italy in 1861. Today the island is the largest wine region in that country. In 2022, 70 million bottles from 69 wineries found their way to local, national and international markets. Two decades earlier, Sicily only had 25 commercial wineries.  

Sicily is hot but its elevation, much like Israel, allows for proper temperatures for grape culture. Some of the island, especially surrounding Mount Etna, is heavily volcanic, giving that certain distinctive character to the wine. Volcanic soils are porous, allowing for quick drainage. The soils are relatively infertile yet high in mineral content, giving grapes that slow-on-the-vine development, which helps bring nuance and depth of flavors to the resulting wines. Thus the island has a great environment for organic, sustainable grape-growing. And the Mediterranean sun and sea breezes help to ward off any fungal issues that can be devastating in other regions.  

At Portale, we tasted 10 wines with our multicourse meal. We began with three whites, each presenting quite a different personality from pure zesty citrus to Chardonnay-like crispiness. Then we were poured six red wines, followed by a brilliant Passito sweet wine with dessert. The reds mostly showed red cherry presence, some with a cinnamon-like spiciness and others offering dark licorice and all-spice.  

That versatility plays well against the backdrop of Italian food, whose extraordinary flavors come from using fresh ingredients and straightforward preparation. But Dolinski said there is another reason that the market for Sicilian wines is hot:  “(Northern Westchester native) Stanley Tucci and his ‘Searching for Italy’ show, and specifically his visit to Sicily, are helping to drive interest and sales.”  

I went into DB Wines in New Canaan, a well-stocked wine store with ample inventory and asked for its Sicilian selection. The clerk handed me one lonely white wine and the previously mentioned Passito, although he told me he usually has more options. I bought both, which were great. The Passito grapes are picked and dried in baskets in the sun until they are appropriately shriveled, creating a brilliant concentration of bright flavors. Much liquid is lost during the dessication process, but what remains gets pressed, fermented and aged. It was a home run with lovely, sweet, honey, golden-raisin flavors carried by a citrus backbone.  

Donnafugata Ben Ryé Passito di Pantelleria DOC 2021:  Look, or ask, for it. I have been to Italy many times, but I’ve never been to Sicily. It is now on my A-list.  

For more, write doug@dougpaulding.com.