Salvo Foti's Vigna Caselle (Milo, Mt. Etna): The estate and its wines

In the middle of tasting a Salvo Foti Etna Bianco Superiore I had a question and sent a quick query over to resident Mt Etna wine experts Benjamin North Spencer and Brandon Tokash. Brandon's response reminded me that while I had covered Aeris Vineyard (the Foti-Harvey joint venture) in great detail, I had not so treated the Foti-owned (and neighboring) Vigna Caselle. I rectify that oversight in this post.

A visit with Salvo was the first thing on our Saturday morning agenda so Brandon picked me up in Linguaglossa bright and early for our trip out to our meeting point at Vigna Caselle, just west of Milo.

We arrived at our destination but there were no signs of humanity. Brandon opened the gate and we drove on into the compound. We looked around, calling out all along, but raised no one. Brandon got on the phone and called Salvo and, lo and behold, they were in the vineyard across the street, half a mile away and 50 meters up.

We were in Vigna Caselle, a Salvo Foti property, while they were in Vigna Aeris, the Salvo Foti - Kevin Harvey joint venture. The two properties are separated by a street. We started out in their direction, lifting a pound of volcanic sand with each step, but an exit point from our enclosure was not readily apparent. So we placed another call to Salvo and he said ok, they would come down to us. Brandon is not a guy who can sit still, however, so he continued to poke around and eventually found a gate which provided egress. 

On our way back from Aeris, Brandon, Salvo's son Simone, Linda and I walked back through Vigna Caselle on our way to the Palmento for our tasting.

This vineyard, as explained by Salvo, lies between the mountain and the sea and the warm air from the latter meets with the cold air from the former over Milo with the result being significant rainfall (average 1500mm/year) over the entire growing area. In addition to the rain, growers have to contend with year-round winds which can attain speeds of as much as 50 miles/hour.

There are beneficial aspects to the winds however. Moisture dries out rapidly, keeping vine diseases at bay. As a result, the vineyard makes it through the growing season with only sulfur and copper sprays. In addition, the sea and wind combine to imbue the Carricante grown on this side of the mountain with a saltiness that is not evident in Carricantes grown on the north face.

The soil is sandy and of volcanic origin with a substantial portion of ripiddu (lapilli and eruptive pumice) intermixed with red soils from the Sahara Desert deposited here by the aforementioned winds. The sandy soils drain rapidly, forcing the roots to dig deep in search of moisture and nutrients. 

The characteristics of the vineyard are illustrated in the chart below.

The Wines

As regards production, all three of the estate's wines undergo direct pressing of the whole grapes with static and natural decantation of the must for 30 hours. The Palmento Caselle and Aurora are both fermented in stainless teel stanks for 15 to 20 days while the VignadiMilo is fermented for 13 to 15 days in 2500L wooden barrels. Native yeasts are added to facilitate fermentation. The wines are aged in fermentation-similar vessels, 6 moths for the stainless steel cadre, 12 months for the VignadiMilo. The Palmento Caselle and VignadiMilo are racked five times while the Aurora is racked three times. Small doses of sulfur are added at fermentation and bottling

I have tasted all three of the wines produced at this estate: two during the course of a visit there, and the third much more recently. For the visit, the tasting group was comprised of Salvo, his son Simone, Brandon Tokash, Lidia Rizzo, a visiting female winemaker, and the author.

Salvo Foti and Author (Picture credit Lidia Rizzo)

Simone, Salvo, Lidia, Brandon, and the
visiting winemaker (L to R)

We started out with a 2014 Aurora Etna Bianco Superiore, a blend of 90% Carricante and 10% Minella. Slate, salinity, and eye-popping acidity. Salvo mentioned that this bottle had been opened for a week and offered to open a new one for comparison purposes. We did not object. The new bottle exhibited the same characteristics but with greater freshness.

VignadiMilo 2014 was matured for one year in stainless steel and then racked into large wooden barrels for further refinement. This wine was fresh to go along with a salinity and slatey minerality.

I tasted two bottles of the 2016 Palmento Caselle during the course of this week. The first was oxidized but the second was sublime. Elegance on both the nose and palate. Lime, herbs, salinity, and pepper spice on the nose. Faded lime and a butterfly presence on the palate. A whisper of a wine. Salinity and acidity present but muted. Slightly bitter finish. Even more haunting on the second day.

Great wines. I expect no less from Salvo Foti.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

The wines of Salvo Foti

Salvo Foti decries the use of the words "natural wine." There is no "all natural" wine he says. "It is a marketing ploy" as vines left to their own designs would seek to maximize reproducibility rather than great winemaking fruit. The wine grape is a human contrivance and there is nothing natural about that.

Yet, if one were to consider the natural-wine bucket in today's winemaking arena, Salvo Foti is as natural as they come. I have previously discussed his traditional, low-impact, sustainable farming practices built on respect for the land and the people who work it. And that philosophy, and those practices, extend into the cellar.

If the laws allowed it, Salvo would make all his wines using the traditional Palmento (he owns a functioning Palmento on the Vigna Caselle property) but, lacking that option, he ferments instead in oak vats using indigenous yeasts and no temperature control (By the time of crush, temperature on the mountain is cold enough to allow that practice without unduly stressing the yeasts and resulting in the production of off-odors or stuck or sluggish fermentations.). Wines are never filtered and minimal SO₂ is used at bottling. Wines are racked and bottled according to the phases of the moon.

After our lengthy promenade among the vines, and being subjected to hundreds of Lidia's must-have picture compositions, we made our way down the hill and across the street to the Palmento in Vigna Caselle. We stepped through the small entry door and negotiated a catwalk-type structure to the crushpad where a table and chairs resided conference-room style. And it was here that we were treated to Salvo's wines and the philosophies and practices that I reported on in previous posts.

Salvo Foti and Author (Picture credit Lidia Rizzo)

In this post I report on Salvo's wines. The tasting group was comprised of Salvo, his son Simone, Brandon Tokash, Lidia Rizzo, a female winemaker, and the author. From time to time visitors would pass through to greet Salvo and he would have to take a small break to go acknowledge them.

I Vigneri vineyards around Mt. Etna (Source: Salvo Foti)

We started out with a 2014 Aurora Etna Bianco Superiore, a blend of 90% Carricante and 10% Minella. This wine was made from grapes sourced from the 5-ha, 5-year-old Caselle Vineyard. Slate, salinity, and eye-popping acidity. Salvo mentioned that this bottle had been opened for a week and offered to open a new one for comparison purposes. We did not object. The new bottle exhibited the same characteristics but with greater freshness. 6500 bottles.

The second wine tasted was the 2014 Vinudilice, made with grapes sourced from Vigna Bosco, a vineyard nestled within the depths of a holly oak forest 1300 meters up. This vineyard lays claim to being the highest in Europe.

100+-year-old vines in Vigna Bosco (Photo courtesy of
Sarah May Grunwald. Used with permission)

The varieties planted here are Alicante, Grecanico, Minella, plus some other unidentified varieties. They are co-vinified to produce a field-blend Rosato. The wines are matured in old oak casks and concrete.

The coloration on this wine was slight. It yielded subtle red fruit on the nose and a density, coupled with freshness and a mineral complexity, on the palate. This is not your grandfather's Rosato. 2,500 bottles.

In addition to the Rosato, we were also treated to a 2014 Vinudilice Metodo Classico. This sparkling wine was stunning but, unfortunately, it is not made every year. This is without a doubt the best sparkling wine I have tasted on the mountain to date and I have not been so excited about a non-Champagne sparkling wine since I tasted the Xinomavro-based Karanika. Fresh and attention-grabbing. Mouth-filling mousse and great persistence. The world deserves to see more of this wine.

Vigna di Milo 2014 is a 100% Carricante Etna Bianco Superiore sourced from a 0.15-ha vineyard located at 950 m asl and planted to 10,000 vines/ha. The wine is matured for one year in stainless steel and then racked into large wooden barrels for further refinement. This wine was fresh to go along with a salinity and slatey minerality. 2500 bottles.

Vinupetra 2014 is an Etna DOC red wine produced from grapes grown in a 0.5-ha plot in the Calderara vineyards of the Feudo di Mezzo district on the mountain's north face. The varieties included in the blend are Nerello Mascalese, Nerello Cappuccio, Alicante, and Francisis. The vines here are in excess of 100 years old and are planted albarello style and at 10,000 vines/ha. This wine had a perfumed nose with plum and cherry notes accompanying spice and sweet vanilla aromas. Focused, with a lengthy finish. This wine was pleasing. 3500 bottles produced annually.

In addition to the wines shown above, Salvo produces two other wines (not a part of this tasting). The first is a white made from Carricante, Rhine Riesling, Grecanico, and Minella grown in a 0.4-ha plot in the Nave Vineyard (1200 m asl) in the Agro di Bronte district. These bush vines were planted 10,000 vines/ha in 2005. The wine is bottled under the Vinjancu label.

The second wine is the I Vigneri Etna DOC which is produced from Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio grapes given to the cultivators by vineyard owners to make wine for their personal consumption. This wine is fermented in a Palmento and sees no wood during the maturation process. Four thousand bottles of this wine are produced annually.

As an overall observation, each of the wines tasted was of extremely high quality and fully representative of its place. For the Carricante wines, salinity, acidity, and minerality were not in short supply. I remain blown away by the Vindilice Metodo Classico.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

Salvo Foti, the pillar of tradition in Mt Etna winegrowing

For most of it lengthy vinous history, the Mt Etna region has utilized the albarello training system as the foundation of its viticultural regime. This system reigned supreme until growers turned to the Guyot and speranato cordone (cordon spur) systems in the early and middle portions of the 20th century. As explained to me by Salvo Foti during a recent conversation, if you went back 20 years, most new plantings were Guyot, as growers pursued the perceived benefits of mechanization and increased yields. As a result, he said, we (the Etna growers) have lost our patrimonial history. But now things are looking up, he continued, as small producers are going back to albarello for new plantings.

Viticulture on the mountain is a mix of the traditional and these "newer" training systems and associated practices. There is no fiercer proponent and advocate of the traditional approach than the aforementioned Salvo Foti.  I provide some insight into Mr Foti's philosophy and practices in this post.

In their seminal work on Sicilian wine (The World of Sicilian Wine), Nesto and di Savino describe the subject thusly: "Salvo Foti stands out, by himself, as Sicily's greatest homegrown consulting enologist ..." who "... more than any other person, ... has fostered an awareness of (Etna's) unique wine culture."

Salvo Foti with Lidia Rizzo, Contrada Caselle

According to Nesto and di Savino, Foti's grandparents owned vineyards on the slopes of Etna. Salvo gained a technical degree in enology on the 1980s and began consulting work with a number of producers in Sicily. He continued his studies and eventually received a specialized degree in enology from the University of Catania. When Giuseppe Benanti made the commitment to the production of high-quality wine on Etna, he turned to the young Foti to work with him on the needed experiments. Foti was Benanti's enologist until they parted ways in 2011.

In his writings (Foti has written a couple of books and a number of pamphlets on wine-related topics), Foti draws a sharp contrast between "producing Etna wines" and "making wine on Etna." Producing an Etna wine results in a product that "captures the essence of the land, the environment, and the people;" requires a winemaker who is "committed to improving and preserving the land where she or he operates," and a vineyard that is ...

in harmony with the terroir, is naturally integrated with the Etna volcano and is expressed in vertical: lives and grows upwards (leaves and shoots to the sky, in lavic stone terraces) and down in the depth (roots), in opposite directions but complementary between them (Salvo Foti, Applied Viticulture, Book 4, The Etnean Palmento: the traditional vinification).

Foti's core mission, as described by Nesto and di Savino, is:

• Protection of the land
• Preservation of albarello viticulture
• Cultivation of indigenous vine varieties
• Emphasizing the humanity of the grower
• Conservation of Sicilian culture.

His key viticultural principles are:

• The use of the albarello training system
• Dense vine spacing
• Avoidance of systemic sprays and synthetic soil additives
• Chestnut poles for vine support.

Foti's key principles on display at Aeris Vineyard

In Foti's view (expressed in my conversation with him), albarello is perfect for grape maturity: (i) the leaves cover the grapes, affording protection from the sun's direct rays and (ii) it affords the capability of working around the vine. He is not a big fan of non-albarello training systems (Foti, The Verticality of Etna):

In the Etna, the vineyard cultivated in the horizontal way (destruction of the terraces to make flat the land, cultivation of the vineyards in the espalier system) is a forcing system for the vine, intended only for the mechanization and for the quantity. 

Foti has been very proactive in disseminating his thoughts and practices:

• I previously mentioned the books and pamphlets
• Salvo has formed an organization called I Vigneri which is comprised of like-minded grape growers and producers operating in Etna and eastern Sicily. In addition to work on their personal properties (if so endowed), members of the organization are available to work the vineyards of clients, all work based on the I Vigneri principles.
• He has guided new Etna winemakers, such as Ciro Biondi and Alice Bonaccorsi, and has served as consultant to Edomé, Romeo del Castello, and Il Cantante, among others.
• Salvo's work on Pietra Marina caught the eye of Kevin Harvey of US-based Rhys Vineyards and they eventually entered into a partnership to grow Carricante grapes at the Aeris Vineyard in Contrada Caselle. But that is not the end of the story. Salvo is also planting a Carricante vineyard for Harvey in California, using I Vigneri practices and personnel.

In our conversation Salvo emphasized that his focus was on respect for the people and the environment. In the Mt Etna region they have been doing the same thing for over 200 years. The viticulture and the people have evolved together and he sees no reason to change that dynamic. He feels strongly that he has a responsibility to the people and the native varieties of the region to ensure their continuity.

And that continuity extends to his farming and management of the land. His grandfather and father worked Carricante. He is farming the way they did. They passed the practices and principles on to him and he is passing it on to his son Simone. And hopefully Simone will pass it on to his son. Continuity.

Foti with his son Simone

Simone, Salvo, Lidia Rizzo, and Brandon Tokash

Salvo Foti and author (Photo credit Lidia Rizzo)

Foti is a quiet and soft-spoken man. At least those were the characteristics that he projected during the course of our meeting. But he also impressed as being extremely knowledgeable, having a strong sense of self, commitment to a set of ideals, and intensity of purpose. Albarello could not have happened upon a stronger proponent.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme