Sicily

Sicily makes more white wine than red, despite its warm Mediterranean climate. Much of the island receives less than 550 mm of rain a year, and with few constantly flowing rivers, many vineyards are dry-farmed. Cold nights and higher elevations help grapes retain acidity, even after hot days. Catarratto and Nero d'Avola are the island's two most planted grapes.

The historic wine valleys are Val di Mazara in the west, Val di Noto in the southeast and Val Demone in the northeast. Sicilia DOC has covered the whole island since 2011. Etna's volcanic slopes produce fresh Nerello Mascalese reds and Carricante whites, while marine influence can bring briny, mineral notes to wines in the west. Palermo's ventilated hills and the central interior add further contrast.

On Pantelleria, Zibibbo is dried in the sun for sweet Passito di Pantelleria. Sicily also retains western traditions of fortified, oxidative and sweet wines, including Marsala.

Producer profiles

Begin with this selection, or open the full directory when you want every producer currently placed in Sicily.

• Abbazia San GiorgioAbbazia San Giorgio is a Pantelleria-based producer founded in 2015, cultivating biodynamic vineyards across the island’s volcanic southeastern slopes.
• Abbazia Santa AnastasiaDEMETER-certified biodynamic estate in the Madonie Mountains, farming Nero d'Avola and Grillo since the Lena family's 1980 restoration of an abbey founded in 1100.
• Arianna OcchipintiArianna Occhipinti farms nine named contrade in Vittoria, southeastern Sicily, working Frappato and Nero d'Avola across 25 certified organic hectares with cement fermentation, native yeasts, and no laboratory corrections.
• AssuliAssuli cultivates almost 130 wholly owned hectares in western Sicily, between Marsala and Mazara del Vallo, with a listed organic red-wine selection.
• Azienda Agricola Battaglia GraziellaFamily estate in Chiaramonte Gulfi bottling native Sicilian varieties and Cerasuolo di Vittoria DOCG from nine hectares of organically farmed calcareous hillside vineyards.
• Azienda Agricola CostaA family estate on Etna's eastern slope in Zafferana Etnea, farming 5 hectares at 550 metres and producing two wines under the Vena Aetna label: a Carricante-led white and a Nerello Mascalese rosato.
• Azienda Agricola Fabio FerracaneAzienda Agricola Fabio Ferracane makes macerated white wines, using Catarratto skin contact that ranges from 24 hours to three weeks.
• Azienda Agricola Frank CornelissenBelgian-born winemaker farming 24 hectares of old alberello and row-trained vines on the northeastern slopes of Mount Etna, making red and white wine from indigenous Sicilian varieties under a strict non-intervention philosophy since 2001.
• Azienda Agricole Planeta s.sAzienda Agricole Planeta s.s is a Sicilian producer whose commercial winemaking began at the Ulmo estate in Menfi in 1995.
• CalcagnoCalcagno is a fifth-generation Etna family estate near Passopisciaro, shaping wines from volcanic vineyards and a tradition-conscious approach in the cellar.
• Cantina ColosiFamily winery on Salina, a volcanic Aeolian island, farming 10 hectares between Capo Faro and Porri. Aromatic whites carry the island's signature of citrus, prickly pear, rosemary, and exotic fruit. The Grillo Acacia spends four months in acacia barrels, adding vanilla roundedness to the grape's native texture.
• Cantina PaoliniOrganic Sicilian cooperative making sulphur-free Grillo from hand-harvested coastal vineyards near Marsala, with a house style built on early picking and bright acidity.