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Three fine wines that set a quality benchmark for Sicily

24 February 2022 By Patrick Schmitt

Following a tasting this week, we bring you our thoughts on three wines from Sicily that we believe set the quality benchmark for whites and reds from this Italian island.

Despite tasting thousands of wines on an annual basis, it’s fairly rarely that I come across a bottle that wows, not just for its quality, but personality. But the wines I’ve reviewed below did just that, and in each case. I had no preconceptions, having been unaware of the brand – Duca di Salaparuta – before I sampled its top expressions. And I tasted the wines knowing nothing about them, aside from the fact they were from Sicily. In each case, in my view, these wines are as good as any of the best drops being produced in Italy today, and would happily sit alongside fine wines from anywhere in the world. That is in terms of quality. In terms of character, they are unique. And, importantly, they prove that Sicily can be the source of outstanding whites and reds, while highlighting the quality potential of two grapes not normally associated with fine wines: Inzolia and Nero d’Avola. Finally, with Nawari, Duca di Salaparuta has also showcased the brilliance of Pinot Noir when grown on the volcanic slopes of Etna – a terroir far removed from this grape’s homeland in Burgundy.

Click here for more information on Duca di Salaparuta, which has three estates in Sicily, and read on for my tasting notes on the producer’s three ‘icons’.

Bianca di Valguarnera, 2018

Source: Salemi, Sicily
Soil type: Clay-calcareous
Grape: Inzolia
ABV: 13.5%
Viticulture: bush-trained, 20 years+, max yield 1.2kg
Vinification: fermentation and ageing in oak barriques (12 months post fermentation, 8 of which are spent on the lees).
Approximate UK RRP: £40

A wine with an inviting appearance, with a deep lemon yellow colour and glowing pale gold glints. Aromatically, the wine is inviting too, with notes of citrus peel, ripe pear and peach, then a smoky, toasty quality, followed by a touch of cedar, and background vanilla.

The palate then shows a touch of development, with a hint of beeswax and poached pear, followed by peach and tangerine, then grilled nuts, toast, and bitter almond. Texturally, this is quite an oily, weighty white, with plenty of ripe fruit, but the finish is wonderfully dry, with a fine phenolic grip, and a refreshing orange and salt taste that lingers long after you’ve swallowed this fascinating, complex and indulgent white wine that’s quite unlike anything else I’ve tasted (although it shows the toast and citrus of aged Semillon, the peaches and cream of fine Viognier, and the wax and richness of great Pinot Gris).

Nawàri, 2018

Source: Etna, Sicily
Soil type: Volcanic
Grape: Pinot Noir
ABV: 14%
Viticulture: Vertical shoot positioning trellised vines with a high plant density per hectare and low yield per plant
Vinification: de-stemmed, 6-8 day maceration/fermentation 26-30 degrees Celsius, followed by ageing for 15 months in French oak barriques.
Approximate UK RRP: £40

This is a light ruby wine with a brick red rim, with aromas of ripe red berry fruit, from wild strawberry to juicy cherry, with a touch of tomato concentrate, dried herbs, toast and cigar box. In the mouth, it’s clear this is a fine Pinot, with intense cherry fruit, almost kirsch-like, along with notes of wild strawberry, cedar, tobacco and then a touch of vanilla. It’s a ripe style of Pinot, but not jammy or heavy, with a lovely cherry stone dryness, and a fine, dense tannic structure, along with a chalky, salty edge, bringing an appealing freshness and firmness to this wonderfully persistent, layered, distinctive medium-weight wine, that is more reminiscent of a fine spätburgunder from the Pflaz than great Burgundy.

Duca Enrico, 2016

Source: Butera and Riesi, Sicily
Soil type: Mixed calcareous-siliceous composition
Grape: Nero d’Avola
ABV: 14.5%
Viticulture: Bush-trained vines, density of at least 5,000 plants per hectare with low yield per plant, max 1.2 Kg
Vinification: de-stemmed, maceration/fermentation 28-30 degrees Celsius for 8-10 days, followed by malo-lactic converstion, and then ageing for 18 months in oak casks.
Approximate UK RRP: £60

A deeply-coloured ruby red with brick red glints on the rim, suggesting a wine that’s starting to age. The nose is open, intense, complex and enticing, mixing notes of baked cherry and blackberry, even a touch of candied red fruit, then cigar box and a hint of rich, sweet balsamic. In the mouth, this is a delicious, and beautifully structured wine, with fleshy fruit at its core, framed by dense, fine tannins. Flavour-wise, there’s ripe raspberry and black cherry, a touch of stewed red berry, tobacco and cedar wood, then plums and cherry stone, followed by a lingering cigar box character as the wine comes to a slow, refreshing, dry finish. A wonderful and distinctive red that has enough concentrated ripe fruit and firm phenolics to age and develop further, although it’s already starting to show some of the complex characters that only come about as a great wine starts to mature.

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