MONTI SICANI

THE NAME

The long Sicilian mountain chain starts at the island’s northern tip near Messina where they are called the Peloritani. From there, the mountains descend and cut through the island somewhat diagonally, still confined to its more northern half, and become the Nebrodi, Madonie, and finally, end with the Sicani range closer to the province of Trapani and the West coast. The name is derived from the Sicans, an ancient people who lived contemporaneously with the Greek and Phoenician colonization of the Island. 

THE (HUMAN) HISTORY

The mountains of central Sicily do not make it into the historical records as did key coastal cities and ports of the island. Coastal cities were more populated, more cosmopolitan, and more important. Certainly, central Sicily was inhabited, as the area was and is prime for agricultural production and animal husbandry. The Sicani people were an ancient Sicilian group that lived in the area before Greek and Phoenician colonization. The absorption of one ethnic group by a larger dominating one is a tale of time. We tend to start the history of the Mediterranean with Greece and then fold it into the dominance of the Roman Empire, glossing over everything that came before and in-between. Whatever we do know about the Sicani is derived from ancient Greek historians and some smatterings in archaeological records, though it is thought the Sicani people and culture were established on the island by 1600BCE. 

The natural resources of central Sicily were (and are still) abundant. Most of central Sicily and therefore, the Sicani Mountains, was an agricultural zone. The grains cultivated for winter stores for Roman Empire granaries came from Sican. Later, it became was one of the main sulfur mining areas in Sicily (fun fact: some producers will still use Sicilian sulfur in their wine production. Sulfur additions became especially important for wine export as early as the 1100s). There were also precious metals beneath the limestone rocks, though extensive drilling has left some of this landscape torn up.  

THE LAND

The formation of these mountains was/is due to the collision of the African and Eurasian Tectonics–a butting of suboceanic continents. The major collisions that produce mountain ranges are of the pre-historic past (so far), but generally, collisions are not a one time situation and they happen continuously.

A major collision between the plates occurred in the late Triassic, early Jurassic period, and an even greater one during the  Late Cretaceous- Late Tortonian Period, that pulled up the Sicilian mountain rangee  During this time, there was also formation of the Hyblean Plateau, which sits atop a thick carbonate platform from shallow ocean successions (closer to land, coral reefs). This carbonate platform is often cited as a reason for the area’s delish wine. Moving West, and into the Sicani mountains, there is more presence of deepwater succession materials  (deep ocean floor), yet calcium carbonate still exists in its geological makeup. 

It is important to note these prehistoric land formations as they are still a major player in the present day terrain. Some of the best wine growing regions, such as Burgundy and Barolo, were all at one time, suboceanic. The fossilized shells provide calcium carbonate, usually characterized as limestone, a composition we associate with some of the highest quality wines. Grapes growing in these places have access to prehistoric, natural minerals. Although we still cannot quite explain why, wines from these areas tend to hit our palates differently and last in our cellars longer. 

The Sicani Mountains cover the provinces of Palermo and Agrigento and mores specifically, the communes of : Bivona, Burgio, Cammarata, Castronovo di Sicilia, Chiusa Sclafani, Contessa Entellina, Giuliana Palazzo Adriano, Prizzi, S.Giovanni Gemini, S.Stefano Quisquina, Sambuca di Sicilia.

Wines from this area will either be labeled as a Sicilia DOC or a Terre Siciliane IGT as there are no wine denominations for this zone. The highest peaks in the Sicani chain are Rocca di Busambra and Mount Cammarata, both close to 1600m asl. Grapes do not grow on these peaks, but they do grow on the gentler, base slopes, up to about 800m. 

It is certainly hot and dry here, though there is more average rainfall in this mountain range, 600-1600mm/ year, when compared to drier areas such as Ragusa and Siracusa. The day time temperatures are hotter and can be a full 9 degrees warmer than the eastern coastal zones. There is also more overall exposure to the sun’s heat as well as more overall daytime hours of light.  The higher altitude range in the mountains does provide cooler nighttime temperatures, which can drop to as low as 35 F in the late Winter, early Spring months. 

There is oddly a lot of Nerello Mascalese that grows in central Sicily. We associate the grape with Mt. Etna, but single varietal bottlings come from this area as well. The other usual suspects are Grillo, Cataratto, Inzolia, Perricone and of course, the beloved Nero d’Avola. 

It is thought by prominent winemakers and Italian grape scientists that there are hundreds of biotypes of Nero d’Avola. This assertion makes sense considering the grapes’ presence on the Island for thousands of years, and in addition to different climates and terroir, probably factors into why we receive such a range of wine expressions from the grape. Unfortunately, despite it being Sicily’s second most planted grape variety, no one has thought it worthy to invest in exploring this notion and work on DNA testing for this grape–by no one, I of course mean people with money, which means the European Union and Universities that fund this kind of research. The kinds of Nero d’Avola bottlings out there range the entire winemaking spectrum from crappy, bulk, additive filled, gas station wines,  to high end, truly impressionable, even cellarable bottles. If winemakers were able to focus on producing high quality wines, the grape would gain more notoriety among consumers and start to garner higher prices. In the end, the consumer market is the driving force behind production and currently, there isn’t much of one for high end Nero d’Avola. 

Viticulturally, it’s a strange little grape. It flowers early and ripens early, it is vigorous but  can have difficulties flowering so not overly productive, and it is drought resistant, retaining its acidity in hot conditions. While we are not privy to the various biotypes of the grape, it is not unreasonable to think that these ancient soils, strata, and rocks have something to do with the quality of wines coming from this region. We hypothesize similarly on zones of northern Italy, such as Barolo, and of deep volcanic terrains, such as Mt. Etna. These Sicani mountain Nero d’Avola can be dark fruited, with rather high acidity.  

Sources: 

A regional-scale discontinuity in western Sicily revealed by a multidisciplinary approach: A new piece for understanding the geodynamic puzzle of the southern Mediterranean. Pietro Di Stefano, Rocco Favara, Dario Luzio, Pietro Renda, Maria Simona Cacciatore , Marco Calò, Giuseppe Napoli, Laura Parisi, Simona Todaro, and Giuseppe Zarcone

Geological map of the Tellaro River Valley (Hyblean Foreland, southeastern Sicily, Italy) Gino Romagnoli , Stefano Catalano, Francesco Pavano