Sicilia

Sicilia (Sicily) is an island region—the largest island in the Mediterranean—which almost touches the Italian peninsula’s toe (Calabria). Its capital and largest city is Palermo. Tourists know Sicilia for the beaches and Greek ruins of the south and east coasts, and its cuisine is world famous. In the wine world, Sicilia was once best known for the dessert wine Marsala, although today it is more prominent for the dry wines of Etna, as well as its large volume of everyday drinking red and white wines. It has 1 DOCG, 23 DOCs (see map), and 7 IGPs. In 2017, Sicilia produced 4.7 million hl (52.5 million cases) of wine. The wine is still mostly IGP, but with the creation and promotion of Sicilia DOC, it has seen a strong surge at the DOP level, now representing more than a quarter of production. The region’s primary grape varieties are Catarratto (34%) and Calabrese or Nero d’Avola (16%).