May 11, 2026 - 0 comments

Teruar 2026: Sicily’s Most Talked-About Natural Wine Fair?

A decade ago, Scicli was not a place associated with wine. Today, this small Baroque town in southeastern Sicily is emerging as one of the island’s most unexpected hubs for natural wine culture. At the heart of this transformation is Teruar – Fiera del Vino Etico, returning in 2026 as one of Sicily’s most distinctive gatherings of artisanal winemakers.

A Town Rewritten by Its Returnees

Over the past ten years, Scicli has experienced a quiet cultural revival driven by a generation of young people returning after studying and working elsewhere. Their projects—restaurants, wine bars, and hospitality spaces—have reshaped the town’s identity.

Wine became a natural meeting point. By the mid-2010s, local venues began building wine lists focused on small, independent producers, following broader European shifts toward natural and low-intervention wines. What started as curiosity quickly became a shared language across the town.

The Idea Behind Teruar

Scicli sits between two historic wine territories: Vittoria and Noto. Yet unlike its neighbors, it had lost much of its vineyard landscape to intensive agriculture.

Teruar was born from this contradiction: a place deeply connected to wine culture, but historically disconnected from production.

Founded in 2016 by the association Arsura – Sete Etica, the fair takes its name from a Sicilian interpretation of “terroir,” placing the winemaker—and their relationship to land, ethics, and agriculture—at the center of the project.

More Than a Wine Fair

Held annually in Scicli, Teruar is built around direct encounters between winemakers and the public. Producers are present in person, pouring their wines and engaging without intermediaries.

But Teruar extends far beyond tasting. The event integrates food, cinema, art, and cultural programming, transforming it into a broader festival of contemporary rural culture.

Its approach is deliberately open: wine as a shared language, not a closed code.

A Lasting Local Impact

Teruar’s influence is now visible across Scicli. The town counts around 30 hospitality venues, many of which include natural wines on their lists—some dedicating the majority of their selection to artisanal producers.

A small kiosk in the historic center offers an unusually wide selection of natural wines, while a dedicated wine shop holds hundreds of labels, with strong representation from Sicily and Etna.

For a town of its size, this density is exceptional.

Teruar did not create this movement alone, but it gave it visibility, structure, and momentum—helping position Scicli as one of Sicily’s most active natural wine communities.

A Growing Community

From its beginnings, Teruar has been shaped by collaboration and early support from key figures in natural wine, including Sicilian producer Arianna Occhipinti and a wider network of winemakers and distributors who helped establish its credibility.

Today, the fair continues to balance established names with emerging projects, often showcasing first vintages alongside well-known estates. This openness reflects a broader shift in Sicily, where a new generation is returning to agriculture and redefining wine production from the ground up.

Teruar, Sicilian wine fair

Looking Ahead

Beyond the fair itself, Teruar is increasingly focused on education, working with local hospitality and agricultural schools to introduce younger generations to wine as both an agricultural practice and a cultural expression.

The long-term vision is clear: to normalize a culture of wine that is sustainable, expressive of place, and rooted in human relationships.

In Scicli, natural wine is no longer peripheral. And with Teruar 2026, the town continues to strengthen its position as one of the most dynamic voices in contemporary Sicilian wine culture.