white grape · rare
Albanello
Siracusa, Sicily, Italy
Say it
al·bah·nel·loh
On the palate
apricotwhite peachlemonhoneysucklechamomilealmond
How you spot it blind: persistent bitter-almond finish in both dry and passito styles
The story
First written down · 1712, Siracusa, Sicily
First commercially produced in 1712 by the noble Landolina and Grillo families of Syracuse; it anchored Ambrato di Comiso, a once-prized Marsala-style liquoroso from Ragusa Province, before near-elimination by phylloxera in the late 1800s.
Where it lives
Siracusa (Sicily) · Ragusa (Sicily) · Caltanissetta (Sicily) · Catania (Sicily)
Shows up as
still whitepassito