Passito di Pantelleria DOC

Pantelleria is a volcanic island in the Sicilian channel, which Decanter's Raffaele Mosca (2025) describes as closer to Africa than to Sicily itself, and Decanter's 2014 UNESCO report placed it 70 km from Tunisia. The DOC covers the entire territory of the island, in the province of Trapani, according to the MASAF disciplinare. The disciplinare (text as amended in 2024) describes lithosols, regosols and andic brown soils, mean annual rainfall of 409 mm, and mean monthly temperatures between 11.7 and 25.6 °C. It attributes the island's drought to five rainless summer months, aggravated by continuous winds recorded on an average of 338 days a year. The same text divides the island into three bioclimatic belts: an inframediterranean coast up to 200 m, a thermomediterranean belt over most of the island, and a mesomediterranean summit. It adds that temperatures stay above zero even in winter, with hot, dry periods of at least five months (May to September) and rain concentrated in autumn and winter. The Consorzio names the scirocco and the greco levante as the winds that blow frequently and violently across the island.

• Volcanic island; the DOC zone is the whole island of Pantelleria, province of Trapani (MASAF disciplinare)
• Mean annual rainfall 409 mm and mean monthly temperatures of 11.7 to 25.6 °C (MASAF disciplinare, 2024 text)
• Five rainless summer months; winds recorded on an average of 338 days a year (MASAF disciplinare, 2024 text)
• Scirocco and greco levante winds blow frequently and violently, per the Consorzio

The Consorzio describes the alberello pantesco as a very small shrub grown on narrow terraces bounded by dry-stone walls of lava stone, set in hollows (conche) dug into the volcanic soil to collect rare rain and night-time humidity. On its UNESCO page the Consorzio explains that the vine is trained below ground level in a wide conca to shelter plant and fruit from the scirocco and greco levante winds, and that no machine can replace the grower. Decanter (2014), citing the UNESCO application, set out three phases: dig a conca and plant the vine in the middle so that it is only a few centimetres above ground level; prune it to six branches while reshaping the hollow; and harvest by hand, beginning at the end of July. The same Decanter report said the technique is believed to have been first developed by the Phoenicians, who arrived on the island more than 2,500 years ago. According to the Consorzio, UNESCO, meeting in Paris, inscribed the agricultural practice of the Vite ad Alberello di Pantelleria as intangible heritage of humanity on 26 November 2014, the first time it gave this recognition to an agricultural practice; the Consorzio also says it played a decisive part in promoting the candidacy. The Consorzio states that work in these vineyards takes at least three times the hours per unit of an ordinary vineyard on the mainland. The MASAF disciplinare says the lava-stone terrace walls extend for more than 7,000 kilometres in all, and that the tools behind the survival of the alberello vineyard are almost only the hoe, along with the plough drawn by the Pantelleria donkey. In 2014 Decanter counted around 30 growers working these vines, and Donnafugata's Josè Rallo estimated around 500 hectares in total.

• Vines trained below ground level in a wide conca, sheltered from the wind (Consorzio)
• UNESCO inscription on 26 November 2014, the first for an agricultural practice (Consorzio)
• Three phases per the UNESCO application, as reported by Decanter (2014): dig the conca, prune to six branches, harvest by hand from the end of July
• Labour at least three times the hours of an ordinary mainland vineyard (Consorzio); lava-stone terrace walls over 7,000 km in total (MASAF disciplinare)

Every Pantelleria DOC type must come exclusively from Zibibbo, except the Bianco, which may include up to 15% of other white varieties, per Article 2 of the MASAF disciplinare. Zibibbo is also known as Muscat of Alexandria (Decanter, 2014), and a 2025 wine-writing competition essay on JancisRobinson.com places it in the large Muscat family and notes that its thick skins are ideal for the passito process. The disciplinare records that some authors date the variety on Pantelleria to Arab rule (835 AD), naming it after Capo Zebib in Africa, and gives a second possible root in the Arabic 'Zaibib', meaning dried grape. For Passito di Pantelleria the grapes must be dried in the sun, wholly or in part, on the vine or after picking, and protecting them from bad weather is allowed. No enrichment of must or wine is permitted apart from adding sun-dried grapes with a maximum sugar concentration of 60%, which may happen even after 30 November, and all winemaking, including the drying, must take place on the island. Decanter's Raffaele Mosca (2025) reports that a significant proportion of the grapes is picked in early August and dried under the sun. At Donnafugata, Josè Rallo told Decanter (2014) that grapes are dried for 20 days on open-air racks and mats, then placed in greenhouses and turned daily, and that fermentation takes between 30 and 40 days. The disciplinare allows fermentation and refermentation of Passito wines until 30 June after the harvest.

• Exclusively Zibibbo (Muscat of Alexandria) for every type except Bianco (MASAF disciplinare; Decanter, 2014)
• The disciplinare links the name to Capo Zebib in Africa or to the Arabic 'Zaibib', meaning dried grape
• Sun-drying, wholly or in part, on the vine or after harvest; drying and winemaking on the island (MASAF disciplinare)
• Only enrichment allowed: sun-dried grapes up to 60% sugar concentration; fermentation may continue until 30 June after the harvest (MASAF disciplinare)

The Pantelleria DOC was approved by DPR of 11 August 1971 (G.U. 239 of 22 September 1971) and last amended by DM of 26 August 2024 (G.U. 205 of 2 September 2024), according to the MASAF disciplinare. It covers eight types, among them Moscato di Pantelleria, Passito di Pantelleria and Pantelleria Passito liquoroso. Under the disciplinare, Passito di Pantelleria must reach at least 20.00% vol total alcohol, of which at least 14.00% vol actual, with minimum total acidity of 4.0 g/l and minimum non-reducing extract of 31.0 g/l; the Passito liquoroso needs 22.00% vol total with at least 15.00% vol actual. Maximum grape yield is 10 tonnes per hectare for both; the Passito may yield no more than 40% wine from fresh grapes, or 4,000 litres per hectare, and the Passito liquoroso 55%, or 5,500 litres. The Passito liquoroso comes from grapes dried naturally or in a conditioned environment, with a mandatory addition of alcohol of grape origin. Passito di Pantelleria cannot be released before 1 July of the year after the harvest, and the Passito liquoroso not before 1 February. Passito di Pantelleria must be bottled within the vinification zone, with individual exemptions for bottlers in Sicily who had bottled it for at least three years before the disciplinare of 27 September 2000 took effect. The label must put 'Passito' before 'Pantelleria', joined by 'di', and must state the vintage; it may add 'vino ottenuto da uve appassite al sole', while terms such as 'classico' and 'riserva' are banned. The wine may be sold only in glass, in sizes from 0.375 to 1.5 litres, with no metal closures. Decanter (2014) reported that it typically takes 4 kg of grapes to make one bottle, with residual sugar of around 200 g per litre and around 14.5% abv.

• Passito: minimum 20.00% vol total alcohol, at least 14.00% vol actual; release from 1 July after the harvest (MASAF disciplinare)
• Passito liquoroso: minimum 22.00% vol total, at least 15.00% vol actual; natural or conditioned-environment drying; release from 1 February after the harvest (MASAF disciplinare)
• Maximum 10 t/ha; wine yield 40% (4,000 l/ha) for Passito and 55% (5,500 l/ha) for Passito liquoroso (MASAF disciplinare)
• Decanter (2014): about 4 kg of grapes per bottle, around 200 g/l residual sugar, around 14.5% abv

The Consorzio Volontario di Tutela e Valorizzazione dei vini a DOC dell'Isola di Pantelleria was founded in 1997 and holds Erga Omnes recognition, according to its own site, which lists Benedetto Renda as president. The Consorzio's figures for 2025 are 343 growers, 321 hectares under DOC and 16,586 quintals of DOC grapes. The bottling and vinifying members it lists are Azienda Agricola Basile, Carlo Pellegrino & C., De Bartoli, Donnafugata, Emanuela Bonomo, Prosit, Salvatore Murana Vini, Serraglia and Vinisola. Decanter reported in 2014 that Donnafugata cultivates 68 hectares of vines on the island and makes Ben Rye Passito di Pantelleria, and Decanter's Raffaele Mosca (2025) called Ben Ryè a benchmark expression that defies the category's downward commercial trend.

• Consorzio founded in 1997, with Erga Omnes recognition; president Benedetto Renda (Consorzio site)
• 2025: 343 growers, 321 ha under DOC, 16,586 quintals of DOC grapes (Consorzio)
• Bottling and vinifying members include Basile, Carlo Pellegrino, De Bartoli, Donnafugata, Emanuela Bonomo, Prosit, Salvatore Murana Vini, Serraglia and Vinisola (Consorzio)
• Donnafugata: 68 ha on the island and Ben Ryè Passito (Decanter, 2014); Decanter (2025) calls Ben Ryè a benchmark expression

Primary sources (MASAF and the Consorzio di Tutela dei Vini DOC Pantelleria): https://www.masaf.gov.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeAttachment.php/L/IT/D/1%252F2%252F3%252FD.8ccd09a077f2ec35dc9b/P/BLOB%3AID%3D4625/E/7z?mode=download, https://www.vinipantelleriadoc.it/il-consorzio/, https://www.vinipantelleriadoc.it/riconoscimento-unesco/, https://www.vinipantelleriadoc.it/pantelleria/, https://www.vinipantelleriadoc.it/anima-vulcanica-etna-e-pantelleria-protagoniste-a-vinitaly/. Secondary sources: https://www.decanter.com/wine-news/vine-growing-on-remote-italian-island-gets-unesco-heritage-status-4275/, https://www.decanter.com/premium/the-hidden-wine-gems-of-the-italian-coast-561456/, https://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/wwc25-ode-zibibbo-joseph-rosenfeld. Last verified 2026-09-25