griculture has been practiced far longer in what is now the province of Catania and the areas around the volcano Etna than in any other part of Sicily, as is established by the remains of Neolithic farming communities that have been found in the district. The area was among the first conquests of the Greeks--in 729 BC--and it is certain from illustrations on coins struck in the period that grapes were being grown and wines made as early as the 5th century BC. In the 3rd century BC, the poet Theocritus spoke of the vast expanses of vineyards on the slopes of Etna. Afterward, viticulture entered a long period of decline, which ended only in the 13th century.At the end of the last century, Catania had the largest surface area planted in vines of all the Sicilian provinces. The outbreak of phylloxera at the beginning of the century provoked a major crisis, with total vineyard area dropping to 41,000 hectares. The consequences of the disaster were still being registered up until a few decades ago.
Part of the crisis of production was due as well to eruptions of Mount Etna. In addition, the soils of the province are extremely difficult to cultivate because of the prevalence in their composition of sands that are extremely fine. They damage the vines and tend to penetrate and clog the motors of farm equipment. However, none of the difficulties that curbed output ever harmed the excellent quality of the wines produced by the vines cloaking the slopes of the huge volcano. And it was not surprising, therefore, that the district's wines were the first to qualify for the DOC designation back in 1968.
They are superb wines, produced in a landscape that more closely resembles a desert than a Mediterranean region. And they are rendered even more fascinating by their components, the ancient Carricante and Nerello Mascalese varieties, which appear weak and poor--perhaps the poorest on the island--but which are in reality capable of producing big clusters with flavors that are richly nuanced.
