WINES OF MONREALE PROVINCE

Ancient historian Diodorus Siculus relates that in 251 B.C. Hasdrubal, the Carthaginian general, who had been preparing his army of 60,000 soldiers and 140 elephants for three years at Lilibeum (now Marsala), crossed the territory of Monreale in an attempt to conquer the city of Palermo. But he was defeated by Roman consul Cecilio Metello. Diodorus claims that Hasdrubal was defeated because his army of mostly Celtic mercenaries had got drunk on the wine of Monreale. It was in fact common for the ancients to get drunk before a battle in order to overcome fear. But Hasdrubal’s Celts were obviously overcome by the excellence of the Monreale wine and its high alcoholic content.The wines of Monreale are doubtless held in great consideration in Sicily. Yet the D.O.C. appellation came only in the year 2000, after a long process of restructuring of the vineyards that led to a considerable reduction of their extension to a little more than 19,000 acres.
This structural qualification was followed by the introduction of noble grapevines such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Merlot, in addition to the traditional varieties of Perricone and Nero d’Avola.