Wine with Leslie: I flew to Sicily to taste the quality of their grapes, here are my Sicilian wine picks
Below are three wines from Sicily, only one of which (the white) has featured before. Picture: file image
A return to Sicily this month, and why not given the little bit of sunshine recently. Thankfully we don’t get Sicily’s blistering heat, is it any wonder that there are so many varieties of granita and ice cream available in every town and on every street corner in cities like Catania and Palermo.
On a visit to Catania (near Etna) last September, when I was over judging wines for the Concours Mondial competition, I had granita more than once a day as it was always available after our meals as well as throughout the city.
Another takeaway was the joy of marsala, a wine that has taken a hard look at itself and completely changed its outlook. Gone were the over sweetened (and sometimes adulterated) versions, it seemed, and instead I found bone dry complex wines and lightly sweet semisecco versions. The dry wines were a cross between a dry amontillado and a bone dry madeira but with extra layers of complexity and bitterness. Grape Circus wines now import two from Rallo who also make a Grillo; the Rallo Semisecco is in MacCurtain Wine Cellar and Sheridans. I’ll feature it soon.
The more obvious takeaway from that trip was the quality of the native grapes, for example, Nero d’Avola, Nerello Mascalese, Catarratto, Grillo and others. The Etna Rosso reds were stunningly good too but prices are high — the best value one is the M&S version which I featured around Christmas on this page.
Below are three wines from Sicily, only one of which (the white) has featured before. The reds can be served a little cool if you wish as they have the fruit backbone to take some chill. Put on The Leopard on Netflix or dig out the Visconti film version with Burt Lancaster. Better still, read the book, it’s wonderful and hasn’t dated a bit.
Grillo is a good metaphor for Sicily’s wine culture, it survives well in the blistering heat and has had a revival having been mainly planted for Marsala.
It doesn’t crop as heavily as say Catarratto but is valued for its aromas and texture. This has lemon oil and floral aromas with a touch of tropical fruits, fleshy and fruity on the palate with texture and balancing citrus zing.
- Bradleys; JJ O’Driscolls; World Wide Wines; 64 Wines; Wineonline.ie
From the Mandrarossa Co-Op on the south west coast of Sicily, a fine co-op with reliable Fiano, Grillo and other grapes.
The co-op’s growers are paid for quality more than for quantity.
This is packed with ripe bright plum fruits with liquorice notes and a hint of smoke, juicy, fruit-focused and with a touch of bitter cherry on the finish.
- Liquor Booth Mallow; JJ O’Driscolls; 1601; Worldwide Wines; Cass & Co.; Baggot St. Wines; Jus de Vine
From renowned Tuscan producer Mazzei who also have vineyards in Sicily. From Nero d’Avola bush vines grown on limestone in the south-eastern Sicily (near Syracuse).
Elegant, perfumed and seductive with notes of red berries, a touch of garrigue herbs and bright fruits. Ripe berry fruit flavours, a little structure, fruit focused but with refreshing acidity and a kiss of cherry skin on the finish.
- Fitzgeralds Fermoy; Bradleys; Thomas’s Foxrock; Pinto; Martins; Delgany Wine Cottage
This won double gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition in 2025 with an unprecedented 99/100. The PX casks used came in part from historic soleras, some six decades old, not simply seasoned with PX.
Aromas of dried fruits, baked figs and dark sugar, sweet on the palate with honey, toffee and pepper spice notes and a long elegant finish. A gorgeous drop.
- O’Donovans; Bradleys; Jus De Vine; McHughs; Martins, James Fox; Corkscrew; CelticWhiskeyShop.com; Kellys
