Grillo: Sicily's Crisp Citrus White, Rescued From the Marsala Trade

Grillo is the crisp Sicilian white you buy when you want Sauvignon Blanc's citrus and cut, plus something the Loire and Marlborough can't give you: a genuine taste of salt. For a century it was locked inside Marsala, the island's fortified wine, valued for how well it held up in a barrel headed for England. Now it stands on its own as a dry still white, and it undercuts most of the famous crisp whites on price.

What it tastes like

Start with the citrus: lemon and grapefruit, clean and immediate. Underneath sits a savory streak of green almond and fresh herbs, and along the finish, a saline snap that comes straight from the maritime vineyards of western Sicily. The grape holds its acidity even in real heat, so it stays bright instead of turning heavy and flat the way many warm-climate whites do.

Style varies more than you might expect. Lighter bottlings drink lean and aperitif-quick. Others are broader, almost waxy, with a texture that stands up to a plate of grilled fish or fried artichokes. Both are dry. Neither is trying to be a fruit bomb.

From fortified crutch to Sicily's cool white

Grillo owes its old job to a British merchant. John Woodhouse turned Marsala into a shippable fortified wine in the late eighteenth century, and by the following century Grillo, with its high sugar and sturdy acidity, had become the grape that trade leaned on. When dry-wine drinkers moved on in the twentieth century and Marsala sales sank, growers had a decision to make: pull up the vines or reinvent the grape.

They reinvented it. Vinified dry and bottled young, Grillo turned out to be one of the more compelling white grapes in the Mediterranean, and Sicilian producers now position it squarely against Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc. That a nineteenth-century crossing of Catarratto and Zibibbo, bred for a fortified wine that no longer sells the way it did, could come back as a fresh dry white is the kind of second act most grapes never get. It stays overlooked mostly because the name still whispers "Marsala" to anyone who remembers, and means nothing at all to everyone who doesn't.

Bottles to look for

A handful of producers have made Grillo worth seeking out. Marco De Bartoli is the reference point in Marsala and takes the grape seriously as a dry wine. Donnafugata and Planeta are the widely distributed names you're most likely to find on a US shelf. Cantine Pellegrino and Caruso & Minini round out the list of reliable, fairly priced bottlings. Look for a straightforward Sicilia DOC Grillo to start.

Here's the honest caveat: Grillo is not consistent from bottle to bottle. The cheapest supermarket versions can taste hollow and washed-out, stripped of the salinity and almond that make the grape interesting. This is a grape that rewards spending a few dollars more. Skip the bottom shelf, pay a little up, and you'll understand why Sicily bet its white-wine future on a cricket — grillo is Italian for the insect.

Where to buy

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Grillo's US availability is uneven. The Donnafugata and Planeta bottlings turn up at larger retailers and online, while the smaller names come and go. Search by grape rather than producer to see the full range on offer right now.

browse Grillo on Wine.com →

— Chris Berry

If you're switching from a famous grape

If Sauvignon Blanc is your default crisp white, Grillo is the lateral move worth making. You keep the citrus, the herbs, and the bracing acidity, and you gain a saline, slightly rounder character that Sauvignon rarely offers. It also tends to cost less for comparable quality, which is the whole point.

See Wines Like Sauvignon Blanc and Order This Instead.

Part of Lesser-Known Wines: 17 Obscure Grapes Worth Switching To — the full underdog-swap guide.