Regions

Sicily: Appellations, Grapes and Production

Italy's second largest vineyard by area at 96,903 hectares in 2024, with 24 DOP wines, one of them the Cerasuolo di Vittoria DOCG, and 7 IGT.

Sicily is a region of Italy. Its vineyard covered 96,903 hectares in 2024, second in Italy behind Veneto at 103,504 hectares, and 2024 production reached 2,746,000 hectolitres of wine and must. Twenty-four Sicilian wines hold DOP status, one DOCG (Cerasuolo di Vittoria) and 23 DOC, alongside 7 IGT, and IRVO, the Istituto Regionale del Vino e dell'Olio, has been the public control and certification authority for all of them since 2012.

Drill Sicily: Appellations, Grapes and Production. Flashcards and trivia on the region and its wines.

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By the numbers

96,903 haVineyard area2024, IRVO

“96,903 hectares of vineyard in 2024, about 14 percent of the Italian total and second behind Veneto at 103,504 hectares”

2.75 million hlProduction2024, IRVO

“Production reached 2,746,000 hectolitres of wine and must in 2024, against a 2021 to 2024 average of 3,413,000 hectolitres, and Sicily ranks fourth among Italian regions for wine and must production.”

31Appellations23 DOC, 7 IGT, 1 DOCGIRVO

“24 DOP wines (1 DOCG, Cerasuolo di Vittoria, and 23 DOC) and 7 IGT wines recognised in Sicily”

1,000Producers2025, IRVO

“1.38 million hectolitres of DOP and IGP wine packaged in Sicily in 2025, by about 1,000 companies”

Planted grapes (2021, IRVO)

Catarratto16.1% · 15,661 ha
Nero d'Avola15.9% · 15,387 ha
Grillo8.8% · 8,579 ha
Syrah5.3% · 5,155 ha
Inzolia4.6% · 4,418 ha
Nerello Mascalese3.4% · 3,343 ha
Pinot Gris3.2% · 3,116 ha
Chardonnay3.1% · 3,032 ha
Frappato1.1% · 1,031 ha
Carricante0.9% · 900 ha
other 37.6%

Shares computed from the stated hectares and the total.

Source sentence

“On the 2021 figures, across a total of 97,081.00 hectares, Catarratto bianco lucido led at 15,661.02 hectares, or 16.13 percent, followed by Nero d'Avola at 15,387.36 hectares (15.85 percent) and Catarratto bianco comune at 13,190.15 hectares (13.59 percent).”

Overview

Sicily is a region of Italy and works the country's second largest vineyard by area. The Sicilian vineyard stood at 96,903 hectares in 2024, about 14 percent of the national area, behind Veneto at 103,504 hectares and ahead of Puglia at 90,882 hectares. It fell continuously from 138,019 hectares in 2000 to 97,064 hectares in 2018, dropping below 100,000 hectares for the first time in 2016, then rose slightly across 2019 to 2024. Production reached 2,746,000 hectolitres of wine and must in 2024, against a 2021 to 2024 average of 3,413,000 hectolitres, and Sicily ranks fourth among Italian regions for wine and must production. Sicily's quality-wine framework is run under the EU protected designation system and policed regionally. Twenty-four Sicilian wines are recognised as DOP, one of them the Cerasuolo di Vittoria DOCG and the other 23 DOC, and 7 are recognised as IGT or IGP in the European nomenclature. IRVO, the Istituto Regionale del Vino e dell'Olio, was established in 1950, with its head office in Palermo and branch offices at Alcamo, Marsala and Milazzo. It has been the public control and certification authority for all Sicilian DOP and IGP wines since 2012, an appointment renewed by ministerial decree no. 318212 of 16 July 2024 for a three-year term. Production classified as DOP rose from about 16 percent of the regional total in 2015 to 41 percent in 2024.

96,903 hectares in 2024, second in Italy behind Veneto (103,504 hectares) and ahead of Puglia (90,882 hectares)
2,746,000 hectolitres of wine and must in 2024, and a 2021 to 2024 average of 3,413,000 hectolitres
24 DOP wines (1 DOCG and 23 DOC) and 7 IGT wines
IRVO was established in 1950, with its head office in Palermo and branch offices at Alcamo, Marsala and Milazzo

Key Facts

96,903 hectares of vineyard in 2024, about 14 percent of the Italian total and second behind Veneto at 103,504 hectares
33,823 hectares of organic wine-grape vineyard in 2024, 26 percent of the Italian organic vine area and the largest of any Italian region
2,746,000 hectolitres of wine and must produced in 2024, against a 2021 to 2024 average of 3,413,000 hectolitres
24 DOP wines (1 DOCG, Cerasuolo di Vittoria, and 23 DOC) and 7 IGT wines recognised in Sicily
Production splits 41 percent DOP, 36 percent IGT and 23 percent generic wine
1.38 million hectolitres of DOP and IGP wine packaged in Sicily in 2025, by about 1,000 companies
IRVO has been the public control and certification authority for every Sicilian DOP and IGP wine since 2012, renewed by ministerial decree no. 318212 of 16/07/2024 for a three-year term

Climate and geography

Across Sicily, flat land, mainly along the coasts, alternates with mountainous and hilly zones and with a volcanic zone in the eastern part of the island. The delimited area of the Sicilia DOC is the entire administrative territory of the Region of Sicily, so the appellation covers the island's full range of settings. In the east, the Etna DOC has volcanic ground and a temperate climate. Its twenty communes sit on the slopes of Etna in the province of Catania, Nerello Mascalese and Carricante are grown there up to high elevations, and vineyards on steeply sloping ground are worked on terraces held by dry-stone walls of lava rock. Etna is the latest-ripening zone in Sicily, with the harvest running from September to the end of October. Production is spread unevenly across the nine Sicilian provinces: on Istat data averaged over 2021 to 2024, Trapani accounted for 42.3 percent of regional wine and must production, Agrigento for 32.0 percent and Palermo for 11.6 percent, the three together for about 86 percent.

The Sicilia DOC area is the entire administrative territory of the Region of Sicily
Coastal plains alternate with mountain and hill country, and with a volcanic zone in the east
Etna: volcanic ground, temperate climate, terraces held by dry-stone lava walls, and the latest harvest in Sicily, from September to the end of October
Trapani 42.3 percent, Agrigento 32.0 percent and Palermo 11.6 percent of wine and must production, average 2021 to 2024 (Istat data)

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Appellations and classification

Classification ladders

Aging tiers

Marsala Aging Categories

Sicily Full article 5 tiers, lowest to highest

5Vergine StravecchioVergine Stravecchio/Riserva
Vergine Stravecchio/Riserva must age at least ten years and, like all Vergine wines, prohibits all sweetening additions.
120 months totalminimum 18% ABV
Superiore must age at least two years, Superiore Riserva at least four years, Vergine/Soleras at least five years, and Vergine Stravecchio/Riserva at least ten years, all in wooden vessels.
From Marsala DOC, read from two or more sentences
4Vergine/Soleras
Vergine/Soleras must age at least five years and may receive no additions of mosto cotto or sifone.
60 months totalminimum 18% ABV
Superiore must age at least two years, Superiore Riserva at least four years, Vergine/Soleras at least five years, and Vergine Stravecchio/Riserva at least ten years, all in wooden vessels.
From Marsala DOC, read from two or more sentences
3Superiore Riserva
Superiore Riserva must age at least four years, in wooden vessels.
48 months totalminimum 18% ABV
Examples Florio Marco De Bartoli
Superiore must age at least two years, Superiore Riserva at least four years, Vergine/Soleras at least five years, and Vergine Stravecchio/Riserva at least ten years, all in wooden vessels.
From Marsala DOC, read from two or more sentences
2Superiore
Superiore must age at least two years, in wooden vessels.
24 months totalminimum 18% ABV
Examples I Custodi delle Vigne dell'Etna Tenuta di Fessina Benanti Pellegrino
Superiore must age at least two years, Superiore Riserva at least four years, Vergine/Soleras at least five years, and Vergine Stravecchio/Riserva at least ten years, all in wooden vessels.
From Marsala DOC, read from two or more sentences
1Fine
Fine requires a minimum of one year total aging including eight months in barrel, with a minimum of 17.5% ABV.
8 months oak12 months totalminimum 17.5% ABV
Examples Porcaria Salice
Fine requires a minimum of one year total aging including at least eight months in wood, with a minimum of 17.5% ABV; all other categories require a minimum of 18% ABV.
From Marsala DOC

Classification operates on three axes simultaneously: color (Oro, Ambra, Rubino), sweetness (Secco, Semisecco, Dolce), and aging duration.
Vergine and Vergine Stravecchio prohibit all sweetening additions (mosto cotto and sifone).
The name is reserved for fortified wines that meet Law No. 851 of 28 November 1984 as well as the disciplinare.

Tiers, criteria and figures come only from Marsala DOC own text. Tap a rung for its criteria and the sentence behind it.

Geographic tiers

Italian Wine Denominations

Italy Full article 4 tiers, lowest to highest

4DOCGDenominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita
A wine must have held DOC status for at least seven years and be judged of particular merit for its intrinsic quality and acquired commercial reputation before DOCG recognition; DOCG wines undergo systematic chemical-physical and organoleptic checks, and each container carries a state seal with a series and an identification number.
100% from named areaat least seven years as a DOC before DOCG recognition
Examples Barolo DOCG Barbaresco DOCG Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Chianti Classico DOCG
Italy's 2016 wine law reserves DOCG recognition for wines that have been DOC for at least seven years
From the Italy article, read from two or more sentences
3DOCDenominazione di Origine Controllata
DOC wines must meet the conditions and requirements set out in each denomination's production specification (disciplinare), and DOC recognition is reserved for wines from zones that have been IGT for at least five years.
100% from named area
Examples Langhe DOC Mount Etna DOC ALTO ADIGE / SÜDTIROL DOC Cannonau di Sardegna DOC
The 1963 decree reserved controlled denominations for wines that meet the conditions and requirements set out in each denomination's production specification, the disciplinare.
From Italian Wine Classification, read from two or more sentences
2IGTIndicazione Geografica Tipica
IGT wines must be made at least 85 percent from grapes harvested in the geographical zone whose name they carry, but face fewer restrictions on varieties and winemaking techniques.
85% from named area
Examples Puglia IGT Toscana IGT Umbria IGT Lazio IGT
IGT wines must be made at least 85 percent from grapes harvested in the geographical zone whose name they carry.
From the Italy article
1Vino da TavolaVini da Tavola
Wine that does not qualify for DOP or IGP, because it is made outside an approved area or does not follow that area's rules, is simply vino.
Anything that does not qualify for DOP or IGP, because it is made outside an approved area or does not follow that area's rules, is simply wine, or vino.
From Italian Wine Classification, read from two or more sentences

Controlled ('controllate') and controlled and guaranteed ('controllate e garantite') denominations were both defined by a 1963 presidential decree; IGT was created in 1992.
Brunello di Montalcino, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Barolo and Barbaresco became DOCG in 1980.
Under EU law DOCG and DOC are both PDO (DOP) and IGT is PGI (IGP); wine outside both is simply vino, traditionally vino da tavola.

Tiers, criteria and figures come only from Italian Wine Classification own text and the Italy article's classification section. Tap a rung for its criteria and the sentence behind it.

Sicily has 24 DOP wines, of which one is a DOCG, Cerasuolo di Vittoria, and 23 are DOC, plus 7 wines at IGT or IGP level. Sicily is eighth among Italian regions for total geographical-indication recognitions and fifth for the number of recognised DOC wines, behind Piedmont and Tuscany (41 DOC each), Veneto (29) and Puglia (28), with Lazio on 27. The 23 DOC are Alcamo, Contea di Sclafani/Valledolmo, Contessa Entellina, Delia Nivolelli, Eloro, Erice, Etna, Faro, Malvasia delle Lipari, Mamertino di Milazzo or Mamertino, Marsala, Menfi, Monreale, Noto, Pantelleria, Riesi, Salaparuta, Sambuca di Sicilia, S. Margherita Belice, Sciacca, Sicilia, Siracusa and Vittoria. The seven IGT are Terre Siciliane, Salina, Salemi, Avola, Valle Belice, Fontanarossa di Cerda and Camarro. IGT Salemi cannot be claimed from the 2026 wine campaign, because it became an additional geographical unit (UGA) of the Sicilia DOC under a specification change approved by ministerial decree of 24 July 2025, which takes the recognised IGP count to six. In the EU register, Etna is filed as PDO-IT-A0780, Cerasuolo di Vittoria as PDO-IT-A0773, Marsala as PDO-IT-A0785 and Sicilia as PDO-IT-A0801, with Terre Siciliane as PGI-IT-A0810 and an EU protection date of 15 December 2011. Etna, Cerasuolo di Vittoria and Marsala share an EU protection date of 18 September 1973. The delimited area of Cerasuolo di Vittoria covers the whole territory of Vittoria, Comiso, Acate, Chiaramonte Gulfi and Santa Croce Camerina and part of Ragusa in the province of Ragusa, parts of Niscemi, Gela, Riesi, Butera and Mazzarino in Caltanissetta, and parts of Caltagirone, Licodia Eubea and Mazzarrone in Catania, with Nero d'Avola and Frappato as the principal varieties and a maximum yield of 8,000 kilograms of grapes per hectare. Marsala covers the whole province of Trapani except the communes of Pantelleria, Favignana and Alcamo, and its liqueur wines run from Fine through Superiore and Superiore Riserva to Vergine or Soleras.

24 DOP (1 DOCG, Cerasuolo di Vittoria, and 23 DOC) and 7 IGT recognised in Sicily
Eighth Italian region for total geographical-indication recognitions and fifth for DOC count
IGT Salemi becomes an additional geographical unit of the Sicilia DOC under the ministerial decree of 24 July 2025 and cannot be claimed from the 2026 campaign, taking the IGP count to six
EU register file numbers: Etna PDO-IT-A0780, Cerasuolo di Vittoria PDO-IT-A0773, Marsala PDO-IT-A0785, Sicilia PDO-IT-A0801, Terre Siciliane PGI-IT-A0810

Key sub-regions

The hub below follows the Sicilian sub-regions that organise this wiki.

Etna: the first Sicilian DOC to be recognised, set in the province of Catania across twenty communes on the slopes of the volcano (Biancavilla, S. Maria di Licodia, Paterno, Belpasso, Nicolosi, Pedara, Trecastagni, Viagrande, Aci S. Antonio, Acireale, S. Venerina, Giarre, Mascali, Zafferana, Milo, S. Alfio, Piedimonte, Linguaglossa, Castiglione and Randazzo), on volcanic ground under a temperate climate, with Carricante, Nerello Mascalese, Nerello Cappuccio, Minnella Bianca and Trebbiano Toscano among the varieties. In 2025, 512 growers claimed Etna DOC over 14,612,623 square metres, for 9,533,417 kilograms of grapes, against 176 growers over 5,682,557 square metres in 2011. Certificates issued rose from 79 covering 9,428.80 hectolitres in 2012 to 640 covering 46,116.54 hectolitres in 2025. Of the 157 companies under IRVO's control body for the appellation, 144 close the chain internally from vinification to bottling. Output splits 42.2 percent Etna Rosso, 40.3 percent Etna Bianco, 8.9 percent Etna Rosato, 4.4 percent Etna Spumante Bianco, 2.8 percent Etna Bianco Superiore, 0.9 percent Etna Spumante Rosato and 0.6 percent Etna Rosso Riserva.

Grapes

The varietal composition of the Sicilian vineyard comes from the regional vineyard inventory held by the Assessorato regionale dell'agricoltura, dello sviluppo rurale e della pesca mediterranea. On the 2021 figures, across a total of 97,081.00 hectares, Catarratto bianco lucido led at 15,661.02 hectares, or 16.13 percent, followed by Nero d'Avola at 15,387.36 hectares (15.85 percent) and Catarratto bianco comune at 13,190.15 hectares (13.59 percent). Grillo covered 8,579.01 hectares (8.84 percent), Syrah 5,154.83 hectares, Inzolia 4,417.90 hectares, Nerello Mascalese 3,343.11 hectares (3.44 percent), Grecanico 3,226.24 hectares, Pinot Grigio 3,115.66 hectares and Chardonnay 3,032.04 hectares. Further down the table sit Zibibbo at 2,825.01 hectares, Frappato at 1,030.95 hectares, Carricante at 900.26 hectares, Perricone at 583.55 hectares and Nerello Cappuccio at 404.89 hectares. The appellation specifications set which of these may be used where. The Etna DOC lists Carricante, Nerello Mascalese, Nerello Cappuccio, Minnella Bianca and Trebbiano Toscano, with Catarratto bianco lucido and Catarratto bianco comune admitted only for sparkling wines. Cerasuolo di Vittoria is built on Nero d'Avola and Frappato. Marsala lists Nero d'Avola, Inzolia, Grillo, Damaschino, Nerello Mascalese and Perricone, again with the two Catarratto admitted only for sparkling wines. Jancis Robinson's regional entry names Nero d'Avola, Nerello Mascalese, Catarratto and Inzolia as the main grapes of Sicily.

Catarratto bianco lucido 15,661.02 hectares, 16.13 percent of the Sicilian vineyard in 2021
Nero d'Avola 15,387.36 hectares (15.85 percent) and Catarratto bianco comune 13,190.15 hectares (13.59 percent) in 2021
Grillo 8,579.01 hectares (8.84 percent) and Nerello Mascalese 3,343.11 hectares (3.44 percent) in 2021
Total varietal area 97,081.00 hectares in the 2021 regional vineyard inventory

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Production and trade

Sicily produced 2,746,000 hectolitres of wine and must in 2024 and averaged 3,413,000 hectolitres across 2021 to 2024, and it ranks fourth among Italian regions for wine and must production. That production splits 41 percent DOP, 36 percent IGT and 23 percent generic wine. Packaged DOP and IGP wine reached 1.38 million hectolitres in Sicily in 2025, against a 2021 to 2025 average of 1.58 million hectolitres, from about 1,000 companies. The 2025 packaging series puts total DOP at 683,911.40 hectolitres and total IGT at 700,042.16 hectolitres, for an overall DOP, IGP and varietal total of 1,384,295.52 hectolitres. Within that, the Sicilia DOC accounted for 565,583.96 hectolitres, Marsala for 44,152.41 hectolitres, Etna for 42,828.66 hectolitres and Cerasuolo di Vittoria for 3,446.03 hectolitres, while IGT Terre Siciliane alone accounted for 698,108.00 hectolitres. IRVO's regional report puts Terre Siciliane at 53 percent of all Sicilian packaged wine. The growth in certified volumes comes above all from the recognition of the Sicilia DOC in 2012, which has since reached close to 70 percent of the total quantity certified as DOP. Certified DOP volumes rose from nearly 130,000 hectolitres in 2012 to more than one million hectolitres in 2021, the series maximum, with a dip to 928,488.05 hectolitres in 2020. Sicily had 33,823 hectares of organic wine-grape vineyard in 2024, 26 percent of the Italian total and the largest area of any Italian region, ahead of Tuscany at 23,068 hectares and Puglia at 21,320 hectares.

2,746,000 hectolitres of wine and must in 2024, fourth among Italian regions
1,384,295.52 hectolitres of DOP, IGP and varietal wine packaged in 2025
The Sicilia DOC accounted for 565,583.96 hectolitres and IGT Terre Siciliane for 698,108.00 hectolitres of 2025 packaging
33,823 hectares of organic wine-grape vineyard in 2024, 26 percent of the Italian organic vine area

Sources and last verified

Primary sources (IRVO and the EU eAmbrosia register): https://www.irvos.it/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Vitivinicoltura-regionale-Febbraio-2026.pdf, https://www.irvos.it/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Scheda-Sintetica-Sicilia-2026.pdf, https://www.irvos.it/comunicazioni/etna-doc-crescita-record-711-certificazioni-in-tredici-anni/, https://www.irvos.it/chi-siamo/, https://www.irvos.it/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/DATI-DOC-ETNA-aprile-2026.pdf, https://www.irvos.it/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Superfici-ed-Uve-a-DO-e-IG-rivendicate-2011-2025.pdf, https://www.irvos.it/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/CULTIVAR_6_novembre_2020.pdf, https://www.irvos.it/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/IMBOTTIGLIATO-2026.pdf, https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/eambrosia-api/api/v1/geographical-indications?namelike=Etna&lang=en, https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/eambrosia-api/api/v1/geographical-indications?namelike=Cerasuolo%20di%20Vittoria&lang=en, https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/eambrosia-api/api/v1/geographical-indications?namelike=Sicilia&lang=en, https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/eambrosia-api/api/v1/geographical-indications?namelike=Marsala&lang=en, https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/eambrosia-api/api/v1/attachments/24586, https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/eambrosia-api/api/v1/attachments/27095, https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/eambrosia-api/api/v1/attachments/26083, https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/eambrosia-api/api/v1/attachments/24695. Secondary source: https://www.jancisrobinson.com/learn/wine-regions/italy/sicily. Last verified 2026-10-05

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Flavor Profile

The appellation specifications set out the styles. Etna bianco is straw yellow, sometimes with light golden or greenish reflections, delicate and characteristic on the nose, dry, fresh, harmonious and soft on the palate, with a minimum total alcohol of 11.50 percent by volume. Etna rosso is ruby red turning garnet with age, intense and characteristic on the nose, dry, warm, robust, full and harmonious, with a minimum total alcohol of 12.50 percent by volume. Etna spumante shows a fine and persistent mousse with a delicate note of yeast, from brut to extra dry. Cerasuolo di Vittoria runs from cherry red to violet or garnet, floral to fruity with cherry, moving in aged wines toward dried plum, chocolate, leather and tobacco, and is dry, full, soft and harmonious with a minimum total alcohol of 13.00 percent by volume. Marsala is a liqueur wine, golden or amber yellow or ruby red taking on amber reflections with age, with minimum total alcohol of 17.50 percent by volume for the Fine types.

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