Sicily, which Homer called Trinacria because of its triangular shape, seems to have taken its name from an Indo-European root with the sound of "Sik" which is used in Greek language to refer to fruits of rapid growth, from which its meaning "Land of Fertility", is derived, as it has always effectively been so.

It is a land that sprawls into plains, grouping into mountains and plateaux, poor in rivers but illuminated by resplendent lakes and ponds, clayey land, scorched by volcanoes but rich in crops, hills, woods, gardens, vineyards, vegetable gardens and pinewoods.

A succession of flat and sandy beaches alternating with jagged cliffs, open to arrivals, facilitated the coming of the Siculians, the Elymis and the Sicanis, the first peoples of whom there is historical certainty; later, around the 10th century, the Phoenician colonies of Mothia, Palermo and Solunto settled in the westernmost part, whereas in the 8th century, other colonisers from various regions of Greece settled in the coastal areas founding towns like Syracuse, Catania, Naxos, Messina, Gela, Agrigento, Selinunte.

These were farming towns that also carried out commercial activities, maintaining their individual autonomy from one another and from the motherland, with which they competed for power, wealth and independence, which eventually caused their decline. Syracuse, for instance, had become the most influential western colony, to the extent of even obscuring Athens. Conflict between Syracuse and Messina led to the Roman invasion, which conquered the island in 274 B.C.

Land was declared public property and leased to Roman knights, who put them under the cultivation of slaves come from Asia. This was how the development of large landed estates commenced: an intensive enterprise based on the exclusive cultivation of wheat, causing the depopulation of the cities and the birth of small rural settlements. For Rome, Sicily became only an internal colony whose sole duty was to supply the City with large quantities of wheat.

The Arabian conquest of Sicily started in 827 and continued for almost one century, witnessing the re-birth of the cities. Palermo became the capital of the island, immersed in a plain cultivated with vegetable and flower gardens; its seaport became the centre of trade of the whole world. The wealth that accrued from trade and crops brought from Arabia made the Arabian cities of Sicily struggle among themselves for supremacy.

As a result of a feud between Catania and Agrigento, the Normans, gallant knights of profound Christian faith, arrived in Sicily in 1060; their astute administration ensured the co-operation of the different ethnic groups dwelling in the island: Latins, Arabians and Greeks achieved a level of prosperity that strongly influenced the socio-economic structure.

With the passage of Sicily to the Angioini family of France in 1266, Palermo ceased to be its capital: Naples became the seat of the Government and this act was a clear demonstration of demotion, which made Sicilians rebel, introducing another domination, the Aragonese Family. The distance from Spain strengthened the feudal system; the barons, free from any control whatsoever from the Spanish state, turned the feuds into many small states. At the end of the 16th century, the barons realised that they needed to increase their produce, to ensure improved sales. The result was the founding of new agricultural colonies, like Vittoria, Bagheria, Menfi.

The crisis of feudalism commences, and it is also a crisis of the aristocracy and its economic system that is increasingly facing more concurrence from the English than from the island. It ends in 1812; on the day the new Parliament created by the British general William Bentick meets and ratifies a new constitution putting an end to feudalism. In 1818 the decision for the restoration of the former feudal properties that had become public properties to free trade, was made, the feudal system managed to safeguard its privileges with many compromises but the condition of farmers remained quite sad.

However, this is a period of great recovery for the vine cultivation. Good wine is produced in the areas of Castelvetrano, Marsala, Castellammare del Golfo, Alcamo, Vittoria, Mascali, and Syracuse. In these years, due to the efforts of the British Woodhouse and Ed Ingham wine producer in Marsala, Marsala wine was created in 1773. In 1883 Vincenzo Florio founded the prestigious Marsala factory.

The spread of Sicilian vine cultivation was therefore quite wide at the moment of unification, when a great blending wine market was already had already functional, with a high demand from the Italian wine industry.