Etna wines have French, terroir-based classics in their sights

I've long believed that Sicilian wines were amongst the best value-for-money, and least understood, in Europe.  But, admittedly, I didn't know that much about them.  This trip was as much about exploring oenology as history and culture.

Here are some top revelations:

• Yes, Nero d'Avola is a safe bet for gutsy, fruity reds.  But Norello Mascalese is the aristocrat of the island's red wine grapes.  Sensitive and thin-skinned, like Pinot Noir, it takes on much more of its terroir and, when made well, has much greater depth and sophistication.
• There's plenty of great white wine on the island, though we rarely think of Sicily for whites.  If you think about their seafood-heavy cuisine, it seems obvious.  In fact, it turns out Japan is one of the biggest export markets for good Sicilian whites, so well do they match raw fish.
• Insolia (also spelled Inzolia) is a dependable white wine variety and usually reasonably priced.  Fairly straightforward and meant to be drunk immediately, these are good, simple summer "glugging" wines.
• Grillo and Carricante were the most sophisticated of the white wines we tasted, with minerality, fruit and floral undertones and an ability to age.
• Planeta, Cusamano and Donnafugata are the largest, most frequently-seen brands and you'll be in safe hands choosing any of them off a restaurant wine list.
• There's a lot more to Sicilian dessert wines than Marsala.  Zibbibo and Passito di Pantelleria are beautiful.  Vino di Mandorla … almond wine … is a more subtle, less sweet take on Amaretto and pistachio lovers may weep with joy upon discovering the milky liqueur made with that nut.
• While vines are grown in almost every part of Sicily, it's the vineyards that snake around 2/3rds of Mount Etna that are making a real play for fame in the world of fine wines.

That Etna revelation came after a magnificent day touring four vineyards on the volcano's slopes with our own private guide.  Valeria Carastro is a local girl who's become the lead agronomist at the Etna Wine Lab.  Booking her for just the three of us was a bit of an extravagance, but it was the best investment three wine lovers could have made.  She arranged private tastings with four houses, made sure we got to talk to the makers, showed us a magnificent, historic palmento (wine processing building), answered all of our many questions about wine and kept us enthralled all day.  She was also a hell of a lot of fun, and we'd all be vying to have her at our next dinner parties if she lived in London!

We started at Murgo, a family-run operation that produces a variety of wines but is doing something really special with sparkling.  We tasted the brut, extra brut and rose, all on par with … and frankly better than … most classic champagnes.  The same biscuity, dry mouth feel, but very subtle bubbles.  We were delighted to spend time with the winemaker, Michele Scammacca del Murgo, who spoke with  real passion about each of his wines as his children.

It was here that I got my first understanding that Etna is approaching wine with the same complex, sophisticated view of terroir as Burgundy.  The volcano adds a unique minerality, which changes depending on which past eruption laid the tufa and ash that became the soil.  Meanwhile, a vineyard's height on the mountain and facing direction creates thousands of distinct microclimates.  Just as in Chablis, the field below a chestnut forest may yield one subtle flavour; a hillside with extremes of temperature another.

We wound a few hundred meters higher up Etna to Barone di Villagrande, where maker Marco
Nicolosi is the latest winemaker in a family that's been producing here for almost 300 years.  The Carricante grapes from which his Etna Bianco Superiore is made, however, are thought to have grown on Etna for  more than 1000.  We tasted a range of delicious whites here, accompanied by a magnificent … if perhaps too large for wisdom … Sunday lunch.  Antipasto, pasta (hand made, with zucchini and ham), beef and panna cotta.

Next we drove around to the back side of Etna, where an inland valley creates a whole different set of circumstances.  And offers one fabulous view after another of green vines growing out of black terraces, bordered by black stone walls overflowing with wildflowers.

First stop here was Fuedo Vagliasindi.  All of the wineries we had visited thus far offered B&B, but this place took it to a different level.  The owners have clearly put an enormous amount into restoration of the gracious old manor house, which now looks like something out of a style magazine and was filled with fashionistas from Catania enjoying Sunday lunch.  We passed the mayor of Catania on our tour.

Fortunately their restoration didn't change the amazing 18th-century production area, or palmento, taking up the lofty ground floor.  We saw the outside double staircase that allowed the pickers to move in a constant line up from the vineyards, dumping grapes through a window into the stomping floor, and then back down without crossing their colleagues.  Inside, the biggest men would trod the grapes, releasing juice into a series of channels carved into the stone.  A massive chestnut screw press took over to squeeze out every last drop.  Storage vats led to more channels that ran around this room and to the next, a cathedral-like space where pipes descended from the channels to chestnut ageing barrels the size of a modern SUV.  All exactly as it would have been 200 years ago; an extraordinary sight, brought to life by Valeria's excellent descriptions.

Back upstairs, on the terrace running across the piano nobile of the great house, we tasted five Etna reds, both from Vagliasindi and smaller winemakers who were friends of Valeria's.  It's a testament to the variety of Etna wines that the three of us each had a different favourites.  We could have lingered for the rest of the afternoon on that stunning terrace, sipping the reds and watching the light fade.  But we had one more stop.

Thanks to savvy marketing that targets wine lists at fine Italian restaurants, Planeta is probably the best-known Sicilian label to London foodies.  They operate across the whole island but are passionate about local variety; their corporate tagline is "for each terroir, its own winery."   Their Etna winery is amongst their newest, called Sciara Nuova … translated as "new lava" … after the relatively modern flow atop which the grapes are planted.  It's from a 17th century eruption.  Things take their time here.

The vineyard manager poured us each a glass of chardonnay and invited us for a walk in the fields.  Evening was approaching; the sun had already sunk behind the bulk of Etna, lengthening shadows and deepening all the colours around us. We strolled on elevated walkways built atop lava walls created to clear stones from the planting area.  Wildflowers and herbs perfumed the air as we crushed them beneath our feet.  We discussed how Sicilian wine making families don't see the land as something they inherit from their parents, but something they take care of for their children, and how important it was to bring out the the individual personality of each field and grape.  It was so beautiful, I felt like weeping.

Back in the newly-restored palmento we tasted the range from those fields, falling in love with several and organising a group shipment to London.  The "Eruzione 1614" was the most sophisticated and complex of all the reds we tasted that day, and should develop nicely for a few years in our cellars.  By the time we've drunk it all, I hope I return for another tour.

There's so much more to learn about Etna wines.