Southern Italy is more agrarian and less industrialized than the northern portion of the country, and it has been slower to develop infrastructure. Farther from the rest of Europe—geographically as well as culturally—it is also more isolated by mountains and seas. Although it is home to large cities, such as Naples and Palermo, and popular tourist destinations, such as the Amalfi Coast, the south has more poverty than, and over double the unemployment rate of, the rest of Italy. Some of its regions are not widely known outside the country, except perhaps to descendants of Italian immigrants who left those regions seeking opportunity.
During the unification of Italy in the 19th century, the Risorgimento government was largely composed of northerners. The south was hurt by heavy taxation, high protective tariffs on northern industrial goods, and a mandatory seven years of military service, which had a particularly significant impact on the farm labor force in rural areas. As late as 1900, the illiteracy rate in southern Italy was 70%, 10 times higher than that of England, France, or Germany. More than four million Italians—over 10% of the national population—immigrated to the United States between 1880 and 1924, most of them from the rural south and the island of Sicily.
Yet despite its hardships, southern Italy has a long and rich history with viticulture and was likely one of the world’s earliest centers of vine domestication, after the Caucuses, Levant, and eastern Mediterranean. A 2017 archeological discovery of wine residue in terra-cotta jars inside a cave at Monte Kronio, in southwestern Sicily, suggests that winemaking in this area goes back 6,000 years.
The arrival of the Phoenicians and then the Greeks led to the expansion of vine cultivation. The Greeks reached southern Italy
Hello - There is some discussion of this in The World of Sicilian Wine by Bill Nesto MW and Frances di Savino (pages 57-58). They note that “the final version of the Sicilia DOC disciplinare (regulation) approved in Rome conspicuously does not prohibit or restrict off-island bottling of Sicilia DOC wines.” An earlier proposal would have grandfathered in mainland bottlers who had been using the Sicilia IGT for at least three years and allowed them to use the new DOC instead, but was apparently changed during the approval process resulting in the creation of Sicilia DOC and Terre Siciliane IGT in 2011.
Curious math question regarding Sicily's production.... this guide states that 38% of the production of Sicily is DOC/DOCG level but only 20% of Sicily's production is bottled on the island. This would mean that a significant portion of the DOC wine is bottled somewhere else? Or am I reading this wrong? I looked in the disciplinare for Sicilia DOC (which would seem to be the place the discrepancy would have to be) and cannot find a mention of a requirement to bottle within the DOC, although there are some regulations about closures, packaging materials and size...
Sicily planted acreage has fallen to 96,903ha in 2024 - putting it second behind the Veneto in planted acreage.
Hey, John! This is an interesting one. Terre d'Abruzzo was approved at the EU level in January of 2024 and is an IGP that covers the whole province. My read here is that is a catchall IGP so larger houses/factories can produce wines from across the region instead of a specific area.
The other IGP's are still in existence and producers are still bottling under them as of the 2024 vintage
Typically when a PDO or PGI becomes irrelevant it will be "Cancelled" at the EU level. Also, after reviewing the Disciplinare of the IGP, they do not mention it becoming the catchall for the province. To my knowledge, the Province has 9 IGPs and the guide is updated to feature that.
Hey Jonathan Eichholz Abruzzo no longer has 8 IGPs, they are all now "Terre d'Abruzzo" as of 2022 according to the Oxford Companion.
Outstanding guide and great pics, thanks!