Grillo Wine Guide: Sicily’s Fresh White Grape Explained

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Grillo: From Marsala Workhorse to Modern Sicilian White

The Italians have a knack for reinvention, motivated by pride and commercial pragmatism. Take, for instance, the esoteric white grape known as Grillo. For centuries, Grillo has been used to produce Sicilian Marsala wine, a fortified wine style that sadly fell out of favor in the 20th century. Once the toast of Europe’s aristocracy, Marsala is now used by most consumers as a cooking wine. With falling sales and squeezed margins, winegrowers knew something had to be done.

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As a result, producers began to switch allegiances and make aromatic dry whites from the grape, often blended with Inzolia and Catarratto – two varieties indigenous to Sicily. Moreover, there is no paucity of demand for high-quality white wines in the global market, which has helped save Grillo from total obscurity. Grillo is racy and full-bodied, typically imbued with a saline quality and featuring hazelnut, citrus, and lanolin flavors. It is one of Italy’s most delightful drops. And, best of all, few of your friends will have heard of it. Bragging rights, indeed!

What Does Grillo Wine Taste Like?

Grillo is not a shrinking violet. At its best, it combines citrus, pear, almond, herbs, and a distinctly saline edge; the sort of profile that makes perfect sense when you remember how much of western Sicily lives under the influence of sea air. Some examples are lean, brisk, and aperitif-like; others are broader, waxier, and more textured.

The grape’s great advantage is its ability to hold on to acidity in a hot climate. That matters. Without freshness, Sicilian white wine can quickly become heavy and anonymous. Good Grillo avoids that fate: ripe enough to feel Mediterranean, but not so ripe that it loses its nerve.

Grillo History and Viticulture

Sicily’s wine culture is ancient, layered, and often shaped by conquest. Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Normans, Spaniards, and British merchants all left their mark on the island’s vineyards and drinking culture. Grillo’s modern story, however, belongs above all to western Sicily — and to Marsala.

The grape’s origins were once the subject of debate, but Grillo is now generally understood to be a crossing of Catarratto and Zibibbo, better known internationally as Muscat of Alexandria. That parentage helps explain its dual personality: it has the structure and resilience needed for Sicily’s heat, but also enough aromatic lift to make compelling dry white wines.

The story of Marsala, however, takes place on the island’s western tip. Grillo has long been a vital ingredient in Marsala, Sicily’s classic fortified wine that fell out of fashion in the 1900s. The center of production is the town of Marsala itself, with sea breezes and the influence of Mount Erice’s cool vineyards. Marsala is best described as a distant cousin of Sherry, invented by British settlers to fortify Nelson’s navy when it was based in Naples during the Napoleonic Wars.

In the 18th century, British merchant John Woodhouse visited Sicily on a trading expedition. After tasting a sweet amber nectar called Marsala, he promptly requested several barrels to be shipped back to England. However, Woodhouse decided to add grape spirit to the wine to protect it from oxidation during the journey. This practice eventually became standardized – a new category of fortified wine was born. In the late 19th century, Marsala was the toast of Europe.

Of course, nothing is immune to the vagaries of fashion. Marsala lost its consumer audience as the demand for dry wines surged in the 20th century. Thankfully, growers have been able to rebrand Grillo as a source of premium dry whites. In addition, the grape is relatively straightforward to grow: Grillo delivers a modest crop of berries, while fungal diseases are almost unheard of in the arid climate of western Sicily. Best of all, Grillo is particularly good at retaining its acidity in the harshest heat, producing a very aromatic style of wine.

How Grillo Is Made

Today, many leading Grillo vineyards are reserved for producing dry whites. This would have been considered sacrilegious a century ago, but times change; there is far greater economic security in marketing a rival to Pinot Grigio and Greco di Tufo. As a result, winemaking often mirrors the techniques adopted across Italy. Typically, hand-harvested grapes are protected from oxygen before they are gently pressed and drained into a settling tank. The must is then fermented at low temperatures in stainless steel, producing a very fruity style of wine. Although winemakers may elect to age their wines on the fine lees (yeasty sediment), maturation in new barrique is very rare.

However, we should be wary of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Although the production of high-quality Marsala has morphed into a very niche enterprise, the tradition is still alive. Leading firms such as De Bartoli and Nino Barraco refuse to abandon the region’s birthright, even if global demand remains a shadow of its former self.

From their perspective, the creation of Marsala wine has changed relatively little since the 1800s, despite the march of new technology and ideas. The most important thing to understand about Marsala is that blending is central to the entire process – both in terms of grape varieties and vintages. After the harvest, white grapes – Grillo, Catarratto, and Inzolia – are crushed and fermented in large oak vats called botti. Cheaper brands will be fortified at this stage with grape spirit and then sweetened with either boiled-down must (mosto cotto) or partially fermented wine (mistela). They are often bottled approximately one year after the harvest – or sooner.

At the opposite end of the spectrum are the long-aged, stupendous Marsala wines of De Bartoli. Like the great bodegas of Jerez de la Frontera, the house embraces the solera method of wine maturation, ensuring a consistency of style and quality across the range. This involves the constant – and carefully timed – fractional blending of wines from different vintages. In the historic cellars of De Bartoli, you’ll observe barrels stacked on top of one another – there are typically five rows or layers of wine aging.

The youngest wines are on the top level, while the base of the stack contains wines aged for at least five years before bottling. As Marsala is drawn off the butt, it is replenished with younger wines from the barrel immediately above – only a third of the blend is removed at any time. Unlike cheaper examples, Marsala’s crème de la crème is usually fortified after maturation in solera. It may then be sweetened, though top-notch Marsala is often bone-dry. In certain cases, the winemaker will refrain from fortification at all. Such wines are rare – the DOC rules will not recognize them. But they can taste magnificent: a beguiling and complex wine full of caramel and nutty flavors. Fortified examples, however, will be classified as vergine or solera stravecchio. Some of the best wines are aged for over 15 years.

Grillo Food Pairings

Grillo is a Sicilian treasure: a grape variety for all contexts, seasons, and gastronomic occasions. Indeed, whether you’re drinking a monovarietal still white – increasing in popularity – or a long-aged bottle of Marsala, there are wonders to be discovered here.

Dry white Grillo, racy with the scent of marine air, is the quintessential Mediterranean aperitif. Thanks to the grape’s high acidity—flabby wines are almost unheard of—Grillo refreshes the parts other wines cannot reach. But it can also pair brilliantly with several dishes; chicken liver pâté calls for a pungent white and plenty of acid, exactly what Grillo delivers. Prawns, shrimp, or langoustines are another reliable choice. Finally, smoked salmon always needs a bone-dry but aromatic white—why not Grillo?

Richer, fuller wines can handle something more ambitious and sophisticated. Recently, we tried porcini risotto with an older bottle of Grillo, imbued with tertiary notes of honeysuckle and lavender. It was a fantastic match, with the white’s mineral acidity cutting across the creaminess of the rice. Mayonnaise is another surprisingly good pairing – egg-based sauces need a contrasting bite in the wine. So step up, if you please, Grillo.

Of course, Marsala is usually relegated to the role of cooking wine. This is a grave mistake: long-aged Marsala can bring so much to your dinner table if you stick to reputable houses and brands. Believe it or not, the best dry styles can shine alongside richly sauced white fish and sweetbreads; the standard pairing is supreme white Burgundy. However, even the best Chardonnay from the Côte d’Or can be overwhelmed by fish that hasn’t been grilled or cooked à la meunière. Yet Marsala, heady with the scent of slowly oxidized Grillo, is not fazed. It offers that rare combination of supreme complexity and bracing freshness that can handle almost any gastronomic eventuality. We can only hope that more wine lovers come to appreciate its immense charms. Speaking for ourselves, we’re already hooked!

Top Grillo Producers to Know

Western Sicily remains Grillo’s natural home, although the grape is now interpreted in a range of styles, from crisp stainless-steel whites to more textured, age-worthy examples. These producers are a useful starting point.

• Cantine Fina
• Cantine Pellegrino
• Marco De Bartoli
• Lombardo
• Tasca d’Almerita
• Donnafugata
• Planeta
• Caruso & Minini
• Gorghi Tondi