9

153 GOURMET TRAVELLER

PHOTOGRAPHY GETTY IMAGES

E

verything’s different in the

south. The light is more

intense, the sky more vivid-blue,

the flavours bolder in your glass

and on your plate. Yes, technically we’re

still in Italy. But travel through the

regions of the boot’s ankle, heel and toe

• Campania, Basilicata, Puglia, Calabria


• and through the island of Sicily, and
  sometimes you feel you could be in
  Africa. Or Australia. Or on the Moon.
  The ancient history of this part
  of Italy is particularly tangible. And
  dramatic: when you stand in the Greek
  Theatre, built in the Sicilian resort town
  of Taormina in the 3rd-century BC, and
  gaze at a smouldering Mount Etna in the
  background, it’s easy to imagine how the
  people of Pompeii must have felt. And
  when you drink the complex, tannic,
  gutsy red wine made from the aglianico
  grape in Campania today, you are tasting
  history, too: this is the same variety that
  was growing on the slopes of Vesuvius
  when the volcano famously blew its top.
  You can taste the influence, too, of
  the waves of people who have ebbed and
  flowed throughout southern Italy over
  the centuries. The Moors, who brought
  their spices and cooking to Sicily in the
  Middle Ages; the Normans who followed
  with their castles; the Spanish and the

Bourbon kings of Naples; and then the

people of a unified Italy. Every wave has

left a tideline on the cultural landscape.

The climate also defines this part

of Italy. We are a world away from the

damp, foggy hillsides of the north.

Here, much of the vineyard

landscape is sun-baked

valley floor, hard scrubby

country and patchworks of

old olive groves, dotted with

whitewashed farmhouses.

Grapes have no trouble

ripening here. As a result,

many of the traditional

southern wines are sweet

and/or fortified: the rich

tawny Marsalas from Sicily’s

west; the luscious purple

primitivos from Puglia; the

golden dessert wines made

from sun-dried moscato

grapes on the islands of

Lipari and Pantelleria.

For much of the 20th

century, wines from the

south were overlooked in

favour of “classic” wines

from further north such

as Chianti, made from

“noble” grape varieties like

sangiovese. In recent times,

though, there has been a resurgence of

interest in the south’s indigenous grape

varieties and wine styles, and once-

neglected regions have been revived.

Nowhere is this more obvious than

on Mount Etna. Here, the local red grape,

nerello mascalese, grows

in rubbly volcanic soil,

often directly into lava

flows that look more like

a moonscape than a farm

on earth. In the mid-20th

century, most of the

grapes from these vines

were made into wine for

home consumption by

the locals, or sent off to

be blended with other

grapes. But in the last

couple of decades, a new

wave of winemakers has

realised what a precious

heritage these old

vineyards represent and

have started bottling

high-quality wines from

them: soulful, perfumed,

earthy reds that have fired

the imagination of wine

lovers worldwide. Wines

that taste like nowhere

else on the planet.●

Top drops of

the region

2016 Feudi di San

Gregorio Greco di Tufo,

Campania $45

Full-flavoured dry white with

a deep mineral backbone:

perfect for seafood pasta.

Imported by arquilla-wine.com

2015 Girolamo Russo A

Rina, Mount Etna $50

Great example of Etna red:

fine red-fruit perfume, deeply

earthy and savoury taste.

Imported by

enotecasydney.com.au

2012 Donnafugata

Ben Ryé Passito di

Pantelleria, Sicily $75

Extraordinary sweet, golden,

luscious wine made from

partially-dried moscato

grapes.Imported by

arquilla-wine.com

Makers embracing local

grapes and conditions are

breathing new life into

southern Italy’s wine scene,

writes MAX ALLEN.

Under

the sun

The Greek

Theatre of

Taormina,

Sicily.

Southern Italy

WINE