Sicily, like the rest of Italy, has long been known as red wine territory. Yet slowly, the whites of Sicily, particularly those grown in the foothills of Mount Etna, have been earning attention as among the most distinctive and unusual white wines in Italy, if not the world.
What makes them so different? These are not conventional, fruity whites. They offer none of the tropical flavors sometimes associated with New World chardonnays, none of the peach and apricot of German rieslings, not even the tart twang of sauvignon blancs.
Instead, they have a pronounced savory flavor — salty, in a word — that gives these wines a singular nature found nowhere else. They are high in acidity and relatively low in alcohol, generally around 12.5 percent, which makes them racy and refreshing.
The source of this character is the combination of carricante grapes and the volcanic soils of Etna in northeastern Sicily.
In centuries past, according to Ian D’Agata’s excellent book “Native Wine Grapes of Italy,” carricante was grown all over Sicily. But by the early 21st century, the grape had largely been confined to the foothills of Etna, an active volcano, particularly on its eastern and southern sides.
Carricante seems to thrive in rainy areas, particularly those around the zone of Milo on Etna’s east side, and at high altitudes, up to around 3,500 feet. No doubt scientists can analyze the chemical composition of carricante to deduce the source of its salty character, but the locals attribute it to the constant winds blowing the saline sea air off the Mediterranean toward the vineyards.
Ten years ago, I might have been able to count on one hand the carricante wines available in New York City. They were an afterthought, if they occurred to anyone at all. All the excitement surrounding Etna wines was focused on the reds, made largely with the nerello mascalese grapes.
That is still true, for the most part. Yet the range of available Etna Biancos has grown steadily, to the point where the wine panel’s coordinator, Bernard Kirsch, was able without too much strain to assemble 20 bottles of recent vintages for a tasting in mid-June.
As always, the wines were purchased retail and sampled blind. For the tasting, Florence Fabricant and I were joined by two guests, Marika Vida-Arnold, a wine consultant who runs the firm Vida et Fils, and John Paterson, the food and beverage director of the Frankies Spuntino restaurant group.
THE TASTING REVEALED a region in transition, evolving from just a few producers carrying the carricante torch to a greater number who perhaps have not yet settled on the best methods of viticulture and wine production.
In some bottles we found evidence in the forefront of winemaking techniques — oak flavors from barrel aging, or creamy textures from stirring the lees, the sediment left over after yeast complete the fermentation. John characterized these as “wines of style” rather than wines of place.
Yet the power of the terroir could not be muffled. Even in these wines, the combination of grape and place — which produces the wine’s essential floral, herbal, saline character — was able to shine through.
CreditTony Cenicola/The New York Times
Given their exceptional acidity, Marika said, the wines have great potential to age and evolve. “Once they start getting the winemaking down,” she said, “this will be a really exciting region.”
I would argue that it already is exciting, even as the growing pains go on.
One issue is the percentage of carricante grapes in the blend. Wines labeled Etna Bianco are required only to be 60 percent carricante, while those labeled Etna Bianco Superiore must be 80 percent carricante (and must come from the commune of Milo).
It’s almost always preferable for the wine to be made entirely of carricante, as were six of our top 10 wines, including our top three. The remaining four wines included percentages of other local grapes, like catarratto, minnella and grecanico. Yet other grapes may be used as well, including chardonnay and trebbiano, which detract from the character of carricante.
OUR TOP WINE, the 2017 Gamma, was from Federico Curtaz, a relative newcomer to Etna whose first release under this label was the 2015 vintage. This bottle was savory and briny, with stony mineral flavors and a rich, oily texture.
No. 2 was the 2017 Moganazzi from Le Vigne di Eli, earthy and energetic, with tangy, saline flavors. It had a touch of oak that was well integrated into the wine, unlike a few others, where the flavor of oak seemed to be too prominent. Those bottles didn’t make our top 10.
Le Vigne di Eli is a project from Marco de Grazia, an American importer who also owns Tenuta delle Terre Nere, which makes a number of fine Etna wines including the lively floral, herbal 2018 Terre Nere Etna Bianco, our No. 4 bottle, which was just 65 percent carricante, but our best value at $25.
Terre Nere also makes a series of slightly more expensive Etna Biancos, labeled Vigne Niche, that are 100 percent carricante and highly recommended.
Our most expensive bottle at $90, and the only Superiore in our tasting, was the 2015 Pietra Marina from Benanti, a producer that pioneered carricante wines on Etna. It was No. 3 in our tasting, but this wine is among the best whites in Italy and is generally an example of how well the carricante can age: I’ve had some wonderful older bottles.
Right now, it seemed a bit reticent, with timid herbal, flora and saline flavors, but it will improve with time. The price has shot up, too. A couple of years ago Pietra Marina cost half this amount. For $27, however, you can try Benanti’s earthy, tangy Etna Bianco, its entry-level wine, an excellent introduction to the style.
No. 5 was the salty, earthy, distinctive 2016 Ante from I Custodi, a project that includes Salvo Foti, who has done much not only to explore the potential of Etna wines but to preserve traditional methods of grape growing and winemaking in the region. I also highly recommend the wines from Mr. Foti’s own label, I Vignieri.
Also worth noting were the rich yet tightly wound 2015 N’ettara from Masseria Setteporte; the smoky, savory 2017 Alta Mora from Cusumano; the rich, floral 2016 Arcurìa from Graci and the stony, mineral 2017 Mofete from Palmento Costanzo.
Carricantes are not the only exceptional white wines from Sicily, or even from Etna. A few years ago I had a wonderful bottle from Santa Maria La Nave, made of grecanico dorato grown 3,500 feet up on Etna. Grecanico is better known as garganega, the main grape of Soave in the Veneto, but it has a history in Sicily as well dating back centuries. I have not been able to find a bottle of this again, unfortunately.
Other grapes, like grillo, inzolia and zibibbo, which were used originally to make sweet or fortified wines, can produce excellent dry whites. But for me, the combination of carricante and Etna stands out.
If you have not had these wines before, the salinity and acidity may at first be surprising. But try a bottle with shellfish or other light seafoods. I’m guessing you will find yourself enthralled as well.
Tasting Notes: Racy and Refreshing Whites
★★★ Federico Curtaz Etna Bianco Gamma 2017 $45
Savory, stony and briny, with a rich, oily texture and lingering saline and floral aromas and flavors. (Jan D’Amore Wines, Brooklyn, N.Y.)
★★★ Le Vigne di Eli Etna Bianco Moganazzi 2017 $49
Earthy and energetic, with tangy, savory flavors and a touch of well-integrated oak. (De Grazia Imports, Chicago)
★★½ Benanti Etna Bianco Superiore Pietra Marina 2015 $90
Reticent now, with floral, herbal, saline aromas and flavors; needs time to open up. (Tradizione Imports, New York)
Best Value
★★½ Tenuta delle Terre Nere Etna Bianco 2018 $25
Floral and herbal flavors, with lip-smacking acidity; 65 percent carricante, with other grapes blended in. (De Grazia Imports)
★★½ I Custodi Etna Bianco Ante 2016 $40
Salty, earthy and distinctive; 90 percent carricante. (PortoVino, Buffalo)
★★½ Masseria Setteporte Etna Bianco N’ettara 2015 $22
Rich, saline and tightly wound, with a note of a just-struck match; 65 percent carricante. (Tabaccaia, Manhasset, N.Y.)
★★½ Cusumano Etna Bianco Alta Mora 2017 $58
Savory, smoky and floral, with pronounced salinity and a slender texture. (Terlato Wines International, Lake Bluff, Ill.)
★★ Graci Etna Bianco Arcurìa 2016 $58
Richly textured, with savory aromas and flavors of flowers, herbs and citrus. (Massanois, New York)
★★ Palmento Costanzo Etna Bianco Mofete 2017 $24
Aromas of flowers and herbs, with stony mineral flavors. (Artisanal Cellars, White River Junction, Vt.)
★★ Benanti Etna Bianco 2017 $27
Earthy and distinctive, with tangy saline and herbal flavors. (Tradizione Imports)
Pairings: Wild Salmon With Fennel and Pistachios
Catania, a city on the coast of eastern Sicily in the shadow of Mount Etna, has one of the world’s great fish markets. The last time I visited it, about a year and a half ago, there was no one selling salmon, a fish that has become ubiquitous on menus and in markets around the world. So why recommend salmon to accompany a Sicilian white wine? It’s to take advantage of the deliciously flavorful, robustly textured wild Alaskan king salmon that’s now in season. This fish, one of five Pacific species, is a member of the genus oncorhynchus, which differs from that of Atlantic salmon (salmo salar) the fish that’s farm-raised across the globe. King salmon is an excellent partner for the often richly alluring white wines from the Mount Etna region of Sicily. To tie the fish to the locality, the dish includes pistachios, a prized variety of which are grown on the foothills of Sicily’s volcano. Fennel provides another taste of Sicily; it grows wild and is the anchor of a popular pasta dish made with sardines. I also tried a new cooking method: putting the fish fillet in a very hot oven, not quite volcanic but about as hot as a home oven can get, then immediately cutting it down and letting the fish cook for 15 to 20 minutes. It’s a fail-safe technique that guarantees against overcooking. FLORENCE FABRICANT
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