Sicily has some of the finest terroir in Italy. Mount Etna is no longer up and coming; it’s as big as it gets. Our favorite wines are allocated and the prices have gone through the... Read More

Sicily has some of the finest terroir in Italy. Mount Etna is no longer up and coming; it’s as big as it gets. Our favorite wines are allocated and the prices have gone through the roof.

And it isn’t just Etna. Arianna Occhipinti has gone from cult biodynamic figure to true wine superstar, growing Nero d’Avola on sandy limestone soils rather than Nerello on volcanic soils. But not all Sicily's great terroirs have blown up yet.

The Noto Valley is south of Etna (like Occhipinti) and just a few miles inland from the port of Avola—as in, Nero d’Avola. This is Nero's ancient home, or so say locals, anyway. Fifteen years ago farmers, the Messinas of Marabino winery, bought a vineyard of old, alberello impupato vines (tree-like old vines) of Nero. The clay-limestone soils are a patchwork of colors, from bright white to dark black.

The family devoted themselves to biodynamic farming and planted new vines in other great sites. They make wines without interventions (natural fermentations, no additives, minimal sulfur).