Sicily

• Mt. Etna

This is the second article ( Part one is here ) in an investigative series on Sicilian wines. Part Three of this series will be a focus on the Sicilian palate, foods and wines from the southern most region of Italy. My wife’s cousin, Fabio, navigates the winding roads up the east side of Mount Etna as naturally as the breeze follows the Sicilian coastline. We are en route to the small mountain town of Randazzo where Fabio’s friend is the winemaker at a winery called Gurrida . Over the course of an hour, we have passed thousands of acres of vineyards and citrus groves and several ancient villages carved (literally) out of lava.

This is the first of an investigative series on Sicilian wines. Part Two of this series will be a focus on the young, dominating wine industry of the Etna DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata) on east coast of Sicily, on and around Mount Etna. For most people, the Mediterranean peninsula of Italy conjures metaphors and sensations of gastronomic ecstasy and high culture. The foods and wines are like its history, sated with drama and prudence. From its politics to its geography, the nation is connected by its diversities of culture, and no where are differences more frequently and poignantly in play than the southern region of Sicily.