This Month's Feature

Sicily

Sicily is the breadbasket of the Mediterranean, and has been for millenia - everything grows here, thanks to its bountiful sunshine and temperate climate. Slightly larger than the state of Oregon, with less population than Chicagoland, itŐs also home to one of the world's oldest wine cultures, in whose development one can read the whole history of Europe. In the heart of the sea, the island claims a strategic position; waves of invading peoples - Greeks, North Africans, Romans, Moors, French, English - have each left a particular impress upon its land and traditions. Lofty Greek temples share ground with Catholic Orthodox cathedrals, Protestant worship-halls, and intricate mosques; the carabinieri recruit from the mafia, and vice-versa; roadstand kitchens abut luxury agritourismos; flat fields of grain rise to high snowy peaks; fashionable silks rub rough peasant twill.

One is accustomed to the idea of Sicily as strictly hot and humid, yet its climate is as varied and patchwork as its culture; it has dozens of unique, specific microclimates: cool and coastal, scalding and sunny, breezy and mountainous. For nearly every climate, there are a host of indigenous grape varietals, made into every style of wine: sparkling, white, rose, red, and sweet. Wineries on the mainland have long exploited this abundance in the form of bulk wine, shipped out of big cooperatives to blend with and beefen casks from lackluster years. Recently, we have the wars between the English and French (18-19th c.) to thank for not only Port and Sherry, but also Marsala, a sweet fortified style invented on SicilyŐs west coast by the Brits, whose quick ubiquity and general mediocrity ('cooking wine') shadowed the island's image for decades.

A great movement is happening here, as of the early 1990s, away from bulk wine and cheap Marsala to fine, single-estate and single-varietal wines made by skilled winemakers (such as Giusto Occhipinti at COS and Alessandro Planeta) using clean, thoughtful methods. The quality of nearly-forgotten grapes like Nerello Mascalese and Grillo are being rediscovered, along with once-famous, long neglected zones like Faro and Agrigento. Yet it remains a slow renaissance; only a tiny percentage of Sicily's wine regions are protected by DOC regulations (with over 80% still shipped as table wine, or for blending), and the islandŐs single DOCG, Cerasuolo di Vittoria, was awarded as recently as 2005.

The next 5 years will see more changes in Sicilian wine than the last 20; it's the ideal time to taste a portrait of the island as it now stands. The whites are generally crisp and tangy, nearly salty, while the reds range from smooth and raisiney to tannic and spicy. Over the next several weeks, we'll show as many different estates by the glass as we can (focusing on small, family-run domaines of traditional production), and many different styles of wine. Salute!

Sicilian Flight: A two-ounce serving of each of the wines above: $16.50 Food Suggestions: first, try these wines alone, then with a selection of tapas and cheese.