ntil few years ago, Cerasuolo was the only DOC wine produced in the Sicilian province of Ragusa. The province was created in 1926 through the administrative unification of several communes that had been included in the province of Syracuse. Cerasuolo di Vittoria received its Denominazione di Origine Controllata in 1973 and Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita in 2005. The output is sufficient to confirm the ancient enological reputation of the area.
In the 4th century, the Latin grammarian Priscianus cited the excellence of the wines of Modica in that area and the town of Camarina also produced wines that were of major interest. As the discovery of wine containers from the 4th-3rd centuries BC clearly demonstrates, the same area was the source of the most highly esteemed wines of Vittoria, a commune founded at the beginning of the 17th century on the initiative of Vittoria Colonna, a Countess of Modica.
At the end of the last century, the vineyards of the Ragusa district were badly damaged by the phylloxera epidemic, which first appeared in Sicily in that zone. The destruction was so terrible that many farmers preferred to plant their lands with other crops, that were felt to be more certain and remunerative. The "struggle" between growing fruits and vegetables on one hand and the vine for wine grapes on the other, was resolved about 20 years ago, when the land area devoted to growing grapes stabilized at about 7,000 hectares, after major early fluctuations.
The Cerasuolo di Vittoria DOCG is produced from the vinification of red Frappato grapes and was first introduced to the public in 1933 at the first, Exhibition-Market of Siena. It takes its name from the magnificent color that characterizes the wine. It is a superior table wine that can be aged for a considerable time of up to 20 years. Going against the rules of convention, the most refined connoisseurs advise that it be drunk as an aperitif when it is quite well aged.
