10

UNDERSTANDING SICILIAN WINE BY PLACE

The Three Valleys

Because wine is an agricultural product, its identity is bound to place. There is, however, no simple and logical way to discuss Sicilian wine from a regional perspective.

Sicily is divided into nine provinces (province, the plural of provincia): Agrigento, Caltanissetta, Catania, Enna, Messina, Palermo, Ragusa, Siracusa, and Trapani. These are also the names of their respective capital cities. When listening to Sicilians, one has to infer from the context of the discussion whether they mean the province or the city. Municipalities or townships (comuni, the plural of comune) make up each province. A township has the same name as its principal town. For example, Linguaglossa is the principal town in a township of that name. In some cases, such as Noto, the principal town is large enough to be considered a city. Here too one has to infer from the context whether the township or the town/city is intended. Frazioni (the plural of frazione) are smaller political entities within comuni. “Hamlet” is the most accurate translation for frazione. Contrade (the plural of contrada) are small places that have historical or cultural significance. A contrada is not an official political subdivision. It is a quarter or neighborhood. Historically Sicilians have not named specific vineyards. They refer to them by contrada and ownership. Vineyard and winery locations are usually classified by province and comune. Statistics are collected based on these political units. A combination of history and politics created them, rather than agriculturalists interested in connecting product identity to origin.

An alternative to a political address is an appellation one. Italian appellation law was created to connect wine identity to place through the development of appellations of origin. The laws also regulated all aspects of wine production. These regulations, called disciplinari (the plural of disciplinare), are protocols of production. They are designed to ensure minimum standards of quality and style for each designation and to protect appellation names from fraudulent use.

The most recent appellation system resulted from a revision of Law 930, instituted in 1963. The revision, Law 164, in 1992 defined four basic legal categories for wine, commonly referred to by the acronyms DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita, “Guaranteed Denomination of Controlled Origin"), DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata, “Denomination of Controlled Origin"), IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipica, “Geographic and Typical Indication"), and vdt (vino da tavola, “table wine"). Vino da tavola may be sold in bulk or by the bottle. It is the most common type of wine but by law cannot indicate place beyond the country of origin. Of these categories, DOCG has the most stringent quality control production regulations, followed by DOC, IGT, and vdt, which is largely unregulated except for basic type and quantity of production.

Consumers, however, have started to see new acronyms on many labels. As of 2010, the new Italian wine regulation Law 61 accepts EU-wide changes that harmonize members’ appellation systems. Basically, DOCG and DOC wines are associated with a new category, DOP (Denominazione d'Origine Protetta, “Protected Denomination of Origin"). IGTs are associated with IGP (Indicazione Geografica Protetta, “Protected Indication of Origin"). Producers have the choice of using the old or the new acronyms. Vdt is now referred to as vini senza DOP e IGP ("wine that is neither DOP nor IGP"). Varietal and vintage labeling are allowed for some wines in this category. Others simply state wine color. Vini senza DOP e IGP will largely be sold in Europe as vdt has been in the past. Export markets such as the United States will likely see only DOP and IGP wine categories. It is possible that a wine producer may resort to the vini senza DOP e IGP category if, for some reason, he or she has not followed the disciplinare of a DOP or IGP. Or he or she might do so for personal or marketing reasons. But this situation has been rare and will likely remain so in the future.

Most of the wine regulations are very confusing and are not relevant to the interests of consumers. This book is written at a time when wine laws are in transition. Current wine law recognizes both the old and the new nomenclature. Producers have the choice of using one or the other on wine labels and in their promotional materials. Since the market at the time of writing still concerns itself primarily with the old nomenclature, I use them in this book. Legal details can bog down discussion to the point where they impede understanding of important ideas. I include them only when necessary.

The appellation concept attempts to outline geologic, climatic, and historic boundaries along with appropriate production protocols. However, power politics during the appellation application process frequently misdirects appropriate and sincere intentions. Many appellations end up rarely used. Regulations are often diluted and homogenized so that they are acceptable to everyone (and no one). Many producers within DOCs have preferred to label their wines as IGTs to take advantage of that category's more flexible regulations. They also recognize that if the DOC name has no visibility in the marketplace, it does not help them sell the wine. Because branding can be made proprietary by registering brands with the government, producers preferentially identify their wines by brand and by the appellation that gives them the balance of flexibility and market recognition that best suits them. In Sicily at the time of the writing of this book, that appellation is most often Sicilia IGT. For wine in the marketplace by 2013, it will be Sicilia DOC, given that the future popularity of the Terre Siciliane IGT is less likely. Within Sicily only a few DOCs have name recognition. The best examples are Marsala, Etna, and Cerasuolo di Vittoria (actually Sicily's only DOCG). Producers will continue to use and promote well-known DOCs. Those who can label wines as DOCs that are not well known and will likely remain so, such as Delia Nivolelli or Salaparuta (not to be confused with the producer Duca di Salaparuta), are likely not to do so but rather to label by brand under the Sicilia DOC. None of the handful of subregional IGTs, such as Camaro and Fontanarossa di Cerda, are likely to develop any traction in the marketplace. Producers are unlikely to use them too. Wine law provides criteria for decommissioning underused appellations due to lack of use. Some will disappear. Appellations, unlike political boundaries, frequently overlap one another. Producers can choose which to use if their production fulfills the requirements of two or more. Though this may be good for the producer, it makes the education of the consumer much more difficult. The assumption of the consumer is that everything on the label means something and has value. However, learning about the details of what is on the label drains a lot of the fun and passion from wine appreciation without appreciably enhancing understanding.

To attain a legal Italian appellation status, producers must draw up a proposal that outlines appellation borders, standards of production, and allowed wine typologies. They present this application to the Ministry of Agriculture in Rome, which assesses the proposal. The standards to be met for the approval of a DOCG application are more rigorous than for DOC. At the time of writing, there is one DOCG in Sicily, Cerasuolo di Vittoria. It graduated from DOC to DOCG status in 2006. This made a difference in the quality of the wines. The market held producers to a higher standard, and almost overnight they became known for serious red wine. Other DOC appellations in Sicily should also apply for or more actively seek the DOCG designation. To do so, producers must draw up a disciplinare that features more stringent quality control regulations than their current DOC disciplinare includes. They then submit it in the form of an application to the Ministry of Agriculture in Rome. If approved, their DOC becomes a DOCG. There are currently twenty-two DOCs in Sicily. Marsala DOC producers should submit the Vergine category. Pantelleria producers should submit the Moscato di Pantelleria DOC and Passito di Pantelleria DOC categories. Because of its historic importance, producers of Moscato di Siracusa should rally together to apply for DOCG. Producers on the island of Salina should propose a Malvasia delle Lipari Passito DOCG. Those on Etna should take steps to gain a DOCG for both Etna Rosso and Etna Bianco. In the more distant future, Noto should work toward a DOCG for red wine. Faro was famous in the nineteenth century for its red wines and has a terroir with the potential to produce great wine, but there should be more Faro DOC producers before such an application can be made. Having a clutch of appellations at the prestigious DOCG level would improve the average standards of Sicily's historic wines and would raise the image of its wine industry.

MAP 1.

Wine areas of Sicily's three valleys

While knowledge of Sicilian provinces and legal appellations is helpful in understanding Sicilian wine, there is a political and administrative subdivision of Sicily that predates the provinces and, of course, the appellations. The division of Sicily into the Tre Valli probably happened before 1000 A.D., during the period of Muslim rule. Though valli (the plural of valle) in Italian translates to “valleys” in English, its original usage in Sicily likely derived from the Arabic wali, which means “magistracy.” That it is impossible to identify three principal valleys makes this derivation seem all the more likely. The Tre Valli were Val di Mazara, Val di Noto, and Val Demone. The borders of each became more defined as the terminology became more widespread during the sixteenth century. The valli were officially referred to until land reforms in the early nineteenth century initiated the division of Sicily into provinces.

The Tre Valli provide a format for a territorial exploration of the modern Sicilian wine industry. They divide Sicily into a western section, Val di Mazara; a southeast section, Val di Noto; and a northeast section, Val Demone. The city of Enna in the island's center is roughly where the three valleys converge. The following three chapters examine Val di Mazara, Val di Noto, and Val Demone, divided by each territory's most salient geographic and cultural characteristics. Taken in that order, the valli represent the stages of the Muslim conquest of the island. By design or by accident, the Tre Valli divisions also correspond to one way of carving Sicily into three geologic pieces. The largest valley, Val di Mazara, contains the Sicani and Palermo Ranges and the southern flank of the Madonie Range, all of which are calcareous. A calcareous, mineral salt–rich sedimentary stratum spreads out south of them like a skirt. The second largest, Val di Noto, has the Hybleaen Mountains and their coastal areas. Here hard limestone prevails. The Nebrodi Mountains, the Peloritani Mountains, and Mount Etna dominate the third valle, Val Demone. The Nebrodi are largely sandstone. The Peloritani contain the only metamorphic rocks on the island. The Taormina fault line cuts the Peloritani off from Etna, which is a geologic formation of its own. Most historical maps, however, include Etna in Val Demone.

Because of the much larger size of Val di Mazara, I discuss it in the context of two areas: west and east. The dividing line roughly corresponds to the Freddo and Belice Rivers. The Freddo flows north from the hills between Salemi and Calatafimi to the Tyrrhenian Sea. The Belice flows from the Sicani Mountains southwest to Menfi. West of the Freddo and Belice Rivers is Val di Mazara–West. This area more or less contains the province of Trapani. Within the Val di Mazara–West section, I discuss the island of Pantelleria, the Marsala DOC, and the coastal and inland highland areas that, although they are within the Marsala DOC borders, grow grapes dedicated to making unfortified wine. As a category reference for these unfortified wines, their territories, and their producers, I use the term Western Sicily. The Marsala DOC and Western Sicily, therefore, have the same borders. Marsala is of such great historical importance and so complex that it needs to be discussed on its own. Val di Mazara–East lies east of the Freddo and Belice Rivers. Just east of the Belice, it contains the Terre Sicane zone, with vineyards that extend from the coastline at the cities of Menfi and Sciacca up to the Upper Belice Valley, just south of the Sicani Mountain Range. To the east of the Terre Sicane zone is a broad swath of coastal highlands, what I call the Agrigento–Caltanissetta Highlands. This ends at the Salso River, which empties into the Mediterranean at the southern coastal city of Licata. The northern part of Val di Mazara–East, east of the Freddo River, includes what I call the Palermo Highlands, which contains the overlapping DOCs of Alcamo and Monreale, and Sicily-Center, the area south of the Madonie Mountains.

Val di Noto is the southeastern corner of the island. It comprises the land enclosed by the Salso River on the west and the Simeto River and its tributary, the Dittaino, to the north. Beginning along the southern coast east of the Salso, the highlands to the north and west of the coastal city of Gela extend north to the Riesi DOC and the city of Piazza Armerina. To the southeast of this Riesi–Piazza Armerina zone is the Vittoria zone. Moving farther southeast along the coast there is the wine area around Noto, and then the vineyards near the city of Syracuse. I call this area the Noto-Syracuse zone. In chapter 12, I discuss the wine areas around Noto and Syracuse separately, because the former is well known for red wine and the latter for sweet white wine. The northern border of Val di Noto is the Dittaino River where it flows east from near the city of Enna to the Simeto. The Simeto empties into the Ionian Sea south of the city of Catania.

Val Demone is the smallest of the Tre Valli. It includes the flanks of Mount Etna, which I refer to as the Etna zone. The next wine zone I call the Northeast Coast. It comprises the foothills and coastal areas that skirt both flanks of the Peloritani Mountains (one southeast toward the Ionian Sea, the other north toward the Tyrrhenian Sea) and, moving west, a narrow band of coastline and foothills at the base of the Nebrodi and Madonie Mountains facing the Tyrrhenian. The Aeolian Islands comprise another zone. By far the most important island in this archipelago, winewise, is Salina.