These wines are born from the complicity of native vines with a vibrant personality, combined with landscapes and soils of great expression. A must for connoisseurs and enthusiasts.
Among the vines, the Malvasia delle Lipari, the Nocera and the Black Corinth. These are flanked by other island vines such as catarratto, insolia, grillo, nerello mascalese, nerello hood and nero d'Avola.
Eleven producers in Assovini Sicilia who fall under the three denominations, from the vineyards on the Peloritani Mountains of the Faro DOC to the Tyrrhenian and Ionian coast of the Mamertino DOC , up to the archipelago of the Aeolian Islands, land of the Malvasia delle Lipari DOC . It is the strength of a territory that has no equal and which offers tourists and gourmets an excellent gastronomic tradition alongside culture and natural beauty.
Brief history
The wines of Messina were especially known from the fourteenth century, when the Aragonese ruled Sicily. However, the best known references are those related to ancient Rome. Julius Caesar seems to have particularly appreciated the Mamertine wine (the Mamertines were a population of Campanian origins who settled in Messina in 289 BC), even mentioning it in the De Bello Gallico . Even Pliny the Elder in the XIV book of his Naturalis Historia confirms that Caesar, at the time of his third consulate, served four different types of wine during banquets: Falerno and Mamertino, of Italic origin, Lesbio and Chios, of Greek origin. Strabone, a Roman geographer, and Martial classified Mamertino among the best wines of the time. Among other literary references, in "Much Ado About Nothing" - the play written by William Shakespeare in 1599 - the story begins with the return to Messina of Prince Pedro of Aragon, followed by knights in arms. Here Leonato, governor of the city, offers the captain of justice Corniola the wine of Messina.
The production area of the Mamertino DOC , between the Tyrrhenian coast and the mountains, embraces thirty-four Messina municipalities for about one hundred hectares in total. A "sea view" area with heights that reach up to 500 meters above sea level Officially recognized in 2004, for this DOC the white varieties grillo, ansonica (insolia) and normal or glossy catarratto can be used, to which can be added, in minimal percentages, the other admitted varieties; for reds, nero d'Avola and Nocera, in a smaller percentage and for a maximum of 15% other admitted varieties.
But it is not only the Mamertino that presents itself in a historical key, the Malvasia delle Lipari DOC also draws its origins from the distant past. For Diodorus Siculus, a Greek-Sicilian historian who lived between 90 and 27 BC, the introduction of the vine was due to the Greek colonizers, who arrived in the Aeolian Islands around 588 BC. In the 1800s, the trade in Aeolian wines spread throughout Europe, thanks to the English stationed in Messina. The writer Alexandre Dumas, in his travel diary on the Aeolian Islands, noted: "A bottle of Malvasia delle Lipari was brought; it was the most exceptional wine I have ever tasted in my life". Officially recognized in 1973, the DOC includes the seven Aeolian Islands, Alicudi, Filicudi, Lipari, Panarea, Salina, Stromboli and Vulcano. The archipelago includes two active volcanoes, Stromboli and Vulcano. In 2000 the Aeolian Islands were declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The vine is cultivated above all on the island of Salina and also on those of Lipari and Vulcano, while the climate is characterized by an accentuated sea wind. The grape varieties contemplated in the production disciplinary include only Malvasia di Lipari up to 95% with a small percentage of black corinth between 5 and 8%. The wines include the raisin, liqueur (with added alcohol) or dry types, based on the percentage of natural sugars present in the wine.
The size of the Faro DOC is almost "city-based", the production area of which extends only in the municipality of Messina, from Giampilieri Marina to Capo Peloro for 32 kilometers in the Ionian belt, and from Capo Peloro to Ortoliuzzo for 24 km in the Tyrrhenian belt, for 900 total hectares. Officially recognized in 1976, the name "Faro" seems to derive from the ancient Greek population of the Pharii, who colonized Capo Peloro (Faro) and a large part of the Messina hills, carrying out agricultural activities and in particular dedicating themselves to the cultivation of vineyards. This area of Sicily boasts a very ancient winemaking vocation, Faro wine, in fact, was already produced in the Mycenaean age (14th century BC). Numerous testimonies can be traced back to an important wine-growing activity as early as the Greek era, to arrive up to the nineteenth century in which the trade and export of Faro wine in many regions of France was truly remarkable, then used as a blending wine for wines of Burgundy and Bordeaux, in conjunction with the phylloxera attacks that affected Northern Europe and France in particular.
Assovini Sicily
Assovini Sicilia supports the producers of the three DOCs and their territories: " We want to express the concept of wine-territory to promote the different Sicilian areas, together with their history and their artistic heritage, through communications, marketing and press tours. Talking about Sicilian wine means narrating its territory ,” says Laurent Bernard de la Gatinais , president of Assovini Sicilia.
