There is nothing like a pilgrimage to educate and soothe the soul, so a few years back I went to Sicily to visit the Abbey of Thelema outside Cefalu on the northern coast, close to Palermo.
Just a short hike up a hill above the small coastal tourist town I found the old wreck of a house that once hosted Aleister Crowley and his disciples, who gathered to read and reflect, and whose lives were “spent not in laws, statutes, or rules, but according to their own free will and pleasure.”
During my trip I also hung out with the local artists in Palermo, who had told me where to find that old haunted cabin, and it was with them I roamed the dark and seemingly gloomy alleys in the hunt for the best street food and drinks there was to be found those Sicilian nights.
Several bars and cafés we visited served just local wine. No etiquette, no year or classification labels, just plain damn good wine, en masse, so cheap it was almost for free. This was a starting point for my interest in Sicilian wine and it’s many faces.
Many years later, I have thought about what we were actually drinking in those bars. Sure, the reds were local Nero d’Avolas and the whites could have been Cataratto, maybe Inzolia or something similar. It was almost always served at room temperature and I had a hard time figuring out if it could actually taste any better outside those streets, or and with anything other than the food served there.
Sicily is one of the largest wine-producing areas in Europe and back then the huge cooperatives sold their hideous bulk wine at low prices. During a recent seminar on Sicilian wines I met up with wine prodigy, author and specialist, Thomas Ilkjær, who told me that much has happened in the production and development in the vast region of Sicily over the last 10-20 years.
Many small producers are making fantastic wines from local grape varieties that are relatively unknown to us. He stated that despite the special and sometimes difficult system the monopoly in Sweden creates, we will get to see much more from Sicily, especially the Etna region where a special climate and unique terrain serves as host for many varieties of grapes.
I have learned about a few natural wine-makers over the last years – I have mentioned Arianna Occhipinti and COS here before and Frank Cornelissen is one to look out for. He is one of many that grows all-natural grapes with no preservatives and no chemicals and who works with local grapes such as Nerello Mascalese.
Thomas Ilkjær continues on that track when he talks about a rise in natural production in the area. “This has to do a lot with the climate of course, it is easier to work all natural with hardly any moisture or rain, a steady and warm climate, close to the sea and on high altitude. The history of Sicily is essential for those producers, the influences form old Greek and Roman ideas, where sometimes the grapes are transformed in a delicate way, fermented and aged according to those ancient traditions in terracotta jars,” he says.
“We haven’t seen the top of this peak just yet and who knows what it will lead up to. However, the natural winemaking is not just a ‘wine-thing’, it is part of the bigger picture as Sicily is coming on strong again as a more specific wine region.”
But again, with the monopoly system in Sweden, it might be some larger producer that will take the spot just ahead of one of those small interesting ones in Systembolagets catalogue. We will probably see and hear much more about the grapes Grillo and Inzolia as they are local stars, as well as the pretty unknown Carricante. Grapes from the Etna region will be something new to explore for our Nordic palate.
In those wines you can find a little more mineral tones and crispy character compared to their predecessors. This comes as great news to me as I’ve been longing to get that Sicilian taste to my seafood meals up here in Scandinavia, but with a crispy-clear, almost salty tone instead of the murky flower meadow taste we might recognize from the earlier Sicilian bottles. Thomas finishes of our conversation with a prediction of more local grapes entering the scene and hopefully with a local touch as well.
However, Sicily will still be in need of their Cabernet Sauvignons, Chardonnays and Syrahs to complement the local varieties. So far only Nero d’Avola has made it on its own but we will see more coming.
As for the small natural producers, they are now starting to label their bottles and my friends in Palermo are starting to see their own local tastes travel abroad, far from the early exports of the major labels as Planeta and Donnafugata.
One thing is for sure, the ghost of Aleister Crowley and his philosophy, “Do what Thou Wilt…”, still hangs over the hot sunny island and is something the small local producers have caught on to. The natural wines they produce are spiritual and I hope we will have a chance to enjoy them more frequently up here in the cold. Along with Thomas Ilkjær, I have found a love for the Sicilian wines, despite the many varieties and wide diversity. And as Mr. Crowley himself would have said it “Love is the law, Love under will”.
words // Pär Strömberg
A writer and consultant who after many years in Sweden now lives with his family back in Copenhagen, Thomas Ilkjær is a frequent and familiar face in the Nordic wine world. He has won numerous titles for his dedication to and knowledge about wine, especially Italian varieties. He is the co-founder and manager of Swedish/Danish sommelier education at Vinakademiet (the Wine Academy) where he also teaches.
