Viticulture in Sicily

Sicily
Wine region
	Vineyards at Segesta, western Sicily
Type	Italian wine
Year established	1968
Years of wine industry	1968-present
Country	Italy
Soil conditions	Volcanic, calcareous, clay, sand
Grapes produced	63% white varieties, 33% red varieties
Varietals produced	Red: Nero d'Avola, Frappato, Nerello Mascalese, Nerello Cappuccio, Perricone, Nocera; White: Catarratto, Grillo, Inzolia, Carricante, Grecanico Dorato, Zibibbo, Malvasia delle Lipari;
Official designations	1 DOCG: Cerasuolo di Vittoria; 23+ DOCs including Etna, Marsala, Pantelleria, Erice; Several IGTs including Terre Siciliane;

Viticulture in Sicily is among the Mediterranean's oldest wine traditions and continues to shape the island's culture, economy and identity. Archaeometric analyses on Copper Age jars from Monte Kronio indicate that wine was already being made on the island in the 4th millennium BCE. Trade and consumption of grape wine continued across the early medieval period under Islamic rule, although legal and social contexts changed. Today Sicily cultivates about 96,900 hectares of vineyards and ranks first in Italy for organic vineyard area. The region has one DOCG and more than twenty DOC denominations, alongside several IGT that cover the broader production.