Sicily

DOC for sweet white dessert wines on the island of Sicily off the coast of Italy. The zone includes the communal area of Syracus in the province of Syracusa. It is thought that wines from this region, as well as the Moscato di Noto are descendants of the ancient and legendary „Pollio di Siracusa“ (named after a mythical ruler of Syracus) and mentioned by the elder Pliny (23-79 AD) as Haluntium. This is one of the oldest wines of Sicily. The German Staufer emperor Frederick Friedrich II. (1194-1250 AD), who lived on Sicily, regualrly served this wine to his guests. As recently as the first half of the 20th century it was as popular and well-known as Marsale, and the wines of the island of Pantelleria, which belongs to Sicily. One can still find bottles for sale that are more than 150 years old, and that are in an excellent drinkable condition. Today the wine is produced only by the Azienda Agricola Pupillo estate, from a vineyard area of half a hectare. It is a varietal wine made from raisined grapes of Giallo Moscato (a variant of Moscato Bianco), it has an alcohol content of 16,5% vol.