Less production but the wines are marked by essentiality, cleanliness, clarity and definition
Now it‘s time to report on the 2023 vintage in Sicily as well. Despite the difficulties of the vintage, caused above all by the effects of climate change, producers have worked hard to maximise results focusing on the varietal richness and diversity of the Sicilian areas. Less production then 2022 one (31%) but the quality of the grapes is high, the wine shows the features of the soils in the different sub region surface cultivated.
The vintage 2023
Presented in occasion of the XX edition of “Sicilia en Primeur 2024, the 2023 vintage was a high-performing grape harvest from a qualitative and organoleptic point of view.
“From this 2023 vintage, we will be drinking red wines with a strong identity, white wines with a complex aromatic profile, native vines increasingly faithful to the territory, and international ones with a new and interesting profile”. This is the assessment made by Mattia Filippi, co-founder of Uva Sapiens, a company that deals with wine consultancy, in his report presented in Cefalù from May 9th to 11th during the 20th edition of Sicilia en Primeur, the event devoted to the preview of the latest vintage.
The longest grape harvest in Italy – one hundred days of harvesting – began in the western part of the island during the first ten days of August and ended at the end of October in the vineyards of Etna.
“It was a very complex wine-growing year that highlighted some critical issues linked to the particular aggressiveness of downy mildew, but also revealed a very skilled production sector that was able to interpret and enhance the peculiarities of an exceptionally unusual grape harvest,” added Pietro Russo, Master of Wine.
The Wine: essentiality, cleanliness, clarity and definition
Great performances of Grillo, which continues to demonstrate its ability to create wines that evolve positively over time, a vine that performs well in quantity reductions and which, in this grape harvest, revealed itself in wines with a broad aromatic spectrum and more evident tropical notes; Catarratto, which is increasingly glocal thanks to its great indigenous values (local) that encounters the characteristics of international taste (global). Nero d’Avola, Frappato, Nerello Mascalese and Perricone are establishing themselves as wines of the future by focusing on a style that combines elegance, versatility and freshness.
The big surprise – according to Mattia Filippi’s report – was the wine produced from the Syrah vine, whose grapes demonstrated resistance to weather and climate conditions and a result which, after the grape harvest, became wines with an acid-sugar balance and excellent ageing.