The World of Sicilian Wine provides wine lovers with a comprehensive understanding of Sicilian wine, from its ancient roots to its modern evolution. Offering a guide and map to exploring Sicily, Bill Nesto, an expert in Italian wine, and Frances Di Savino, a student of Italian culture, deliver a substantive appreciation of a vibrant wine region that is one of Europe’s most historic areas and a place where many cultures intersect.

From the earliest Greek and Phoenician settlers who colonized the island in the eighth century B.C., the culture of wine has flourished in Sicily. A parade of foreign rulers was similarly drawn to Sicily’s fertile land, sun-filled climate, and strategic position in the Mediterranean. The modern Sicilian quality wine industry was reborn in the 1980s and 1990s with the arrival of wines made with established international varieties and state-of-the-art enology. Sicily is only now rediscovering the quality of its indigenous grape varieties, such as Nero d’Avola, Nerello Mascalese, Frappato, Grillo, and distinctive terroirs such as the slopes of Mount Etna.

List of Maps
Acknowledgments
Preface

1. The Origins of Sicilian Wine and Culture
2. The Lost Opportunity: 1775 to 1950
3. The Modern Sicilian Wine Industry
4. Perpetual Wine
5. The Geography of Sicily
6. Vine Varieties
7. Viticulture in Sicily
8. Enology in Sicily
9. At the Heart of Sicily
10. Understanding Sicilian Wine by Place: The Three Valleys
11. Val di Mazara
12. Val di Noto
13. Val Demone
14. The Garden-Vineyard

Afterword
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index

Bill Nesto is a Master of Wine and a founder of the Wine Studies Program at Boston University. An expert on the wines of the world, he has written for Gastronomica, Santé and Massachusetts Beverage Business. Frances Di Savino is an attorney who has a background in medieval and Renaissance studies and is Bill’s partner in life and on the wine road.

“This painstakingly researched and well-written book is highly recommended reading not only for those seeking entry into the mysteries of the Sicilian wine scene but also for those seeking an introduction to the twists and turns of Sicilian history generally. That Bill Nesto is a Master of Wine is apparent from the knowledgeable way he treats matters viticultural and vinous. That he and his co-author/wife have southern Italian, indeed Sicilian, blood flowing through their veins is apparent in the passion and intensity with which they handle their material."--Nicolas Belfrage, MW, author of The Finest Wines of Tuscany and Central Italy

“Few wine books are as deeply researched and detailed as this exhaustive reference on Sicilian wine from antiquity to the present day. Even the most knowledgeable oenophiles and Italophiles will learn from The World of Sicilian Wine."--Robert Camuto, author of Palmento: A Sicilian Wine Odyssey

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