Sweet, high-alcohol wines have been produced in the south-east corner of the Italian region and island of Sicily since ancient times. The ancient harbour town and city-state of Syracuse (now Siracusa) was located there. A legendary wine from this period was called "Pollio di Siracusa", which, according to an unverifiable hypothesis, was named after the legendary tyrant Pollio Argivo, who ruled over ancient Syracuse in the 8th century BC.
Pliny the Elder (23-79) described this wine in his work Naturalis historia as "native to Sicily and tasting of sweet must" and named it "Haluntium" after the ancient city. The German Hohenstaufen Emperor Frederick II (1194-1250), who resided in Sicily, was a friend of this wine and regularly served it to his guests.
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