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Salvo Foti-I Vigneri
I Vigneri di Salvo Foti in Etna, Sicily.
Salvo Foti. Photo by Alex Finberg.
Profile
When you speak about the wines of eastern Sicily and especially the wines from the soils of Mount
Etna, Sicily's famous, majestic volcano, it is impossible to not mention the name Salvo Foti. A native
of the city of Catania, Salvo studied enology and began his career in 1981 as a technical and
agrarian advisor to some noted estates in eastern Sicily. He continues that work today for estates
such as Gulfi, Benanti and ViniBiondi, all of whose wines are universally recognized as among the
best in Sicily. But it is still working with and for someone else. Salvo wanted his own project to really
make a wine that sings.
A number of years ago, Salvo's love of the grapes and soils of Etna, in particular, led him to initiate a
project called I Vigneri. It takes its name from an association that existed in the Etna region in 1435,
Maestranzi dei Vigneri, an association of vineyard workers that greatly influenced the wine culture
of the Etna region. Today, I Vigneri is an association between Salvo Foti, other vine experts and local
grape growers who bring their long experience among the particular vines of Etna to their work in
the vineyard and cellar.
The vines for the red wine, Vinupetra, are concentrated at 700 meters altitude on the north side of
the volcano near the town of Calderara. Here, the climate is more like the north of Italy than Sicily,
winters are harsh and cold, the summers are hot and dry and there can be extreme fluctuations
between night and day temperatures. The soils are broken or decomposed lava stone of varying
depth mixed with sand. Many of the vines are rehabilitated old vines, some over 100 years-old,
planted at 10,000 plants per hectare in albarello(goblet) system, the only system Salvo considers for
producing great fruit under the climatic conditions of Etna. All of these factors allow for work only
by hand or mule in the vineyards.
Because these vines are so old, there is great diversity within the vineyard and different strains of
each of the varieties appear. The grapes are the autochthonous Nerello Mascalese and Nerello
Cappuccio with Alicante (Grenache) and a smattering of vines referred to as Francisi, because their
variety and provenance are unknown. There is a system of replanting using only massale selection
with cuttings from the older vines while maintaining the diversity of plants. Replanting is done in the
older vineyards because some of the old vines die, but there are also new, adjacent parcels being
planted. Currently there are two new parcels planted and one is being readied for planting in 2009.
Two other sites in Bronte are at extreme altitiude – A newly planted vineyard in 2005 of white
varietals at about a 1200 meters form which comes the Vinujancu while the other is a vineyard of
mainly hundred year old Alicante (Grenache) vines with some other red and white grape vines at
1300 meters surrounded by a holly oak forest, and from which a rosé wine called Vinudilice is made.
There is nothing used in the vineyards except copper/sulfur mix. No fertilizers, herbicides or
pesticides are used. The grapes are harvested by hand at the end of September until mid-october.
Fermentations are done in open oak vats, without enzymes or thermal control (the nights by this
time of year are quite cold). There is very little sulfur used on the grapes or must, if at all. Racking
and bottling are done under lunar cycle. The wines are bottled with little or no filtration.
Since its incarnation, each member of the I Vigneri association who works in the vineyards here and
at other nearby estates where Salvo is involved receive a quota of the grapes they pick at the other
estates to make a wine in common for their own consumption. In 2005 and 2006 (hopefully 2007,
too), with the workers permission, Salvo bottled some to sell. The wine is made from only the
Nerellos – Mascalese and Cappuccio – and is vinified in concrete vats. It is unfiltered.
This is a breathtaking estate with a mission to make great wines. Furthermore, it is an association
that is pulling from the experience and energy of local grape growing talent and giving them a
vested interest to create great wines in an region that is economically challenging for many of its
inhabitants, especially farmers.
Salvo says that a living wine has its own composition that arises from its own variables: the grape,
the vine, the vineyard, the climatic conditions and the individual (vineyard worker and vinifier). It's
important that there is harmony and respect for each variable to make a wine that truly sings.
You can see more at www.salvofoti.it. There is a great video of grafting onto a planted rootstock in
the gallery. You can see the ash that makes up the soil in this region on the grafter's hands.
Visits
This visit with Salvo Foti took place in May,
2014.
Photos by Josefa Concannon, Jake Halper and Jill
Bernheimer.
That's the picture Salvo sent us the night before our visit. Oh Etna, always erupting!
After a lovely morning visit at Romeo del Castello, it was once again time to visit the grand,
mysterious Salvo Foti!
While waiting for him, many of us got into a heated debate on who was going to buy this sweet
miniature automobile.
No one could agree, so we decided to grab a coffee at the best named cafe of all time:
YES, I know it's spelled with a K but I still thought it was funny.
Not making us wait too long, Salvo pulled up with his left-hand man Mauricio and we drove up to a
new vineyard.
This parcel is at 1100 meters elevation, and was planted 3 years ago. Salvo does not plant Nerello
Mascalese above 800m, as it doesn't grow well in those circumstances. Whites, on the other hand,
fare well, and this vineyard has been planted in Grecanico and Minella.
A small crew of the I Vigneri team was busy hoeing the soils.
"Every time they do this, it's like adding a fertilizer to the vineyard. It's the vines' water."
It's very important to do this work in the vines' infancy due to Etna's volcanic ash soils. If the ash
isn't constantly being shifted around, the roots will stay superficial and not reach the subsoils.
Furthermore, wild grasses and flowers grow very quickly on volcanic ash, making for too much
competition.
"If we weren't constantly hoeing, these vines would look like this."
From there, we took a terrifying, extremely steep road that almost resulted in a few accidents.
Certainly not for stick-shift novices... Fortunately no one was harmed and we were able to visit the
Vigna Bosco:
Salvo acquired this vineyard 12 years ago. To his knowledge, this is one of if not THE highest
vineyard in all of Etna, towering at 1300 meters elevation. Very few people still own vineyards at
these types of altitude.
"In their eyes, it's too much work for too little result. Plus you need to have workers who know what
they are doing, and these are getting harder and harder to come by."
Do to the altitude, the vineyard produces very low alcohol grapes. Harvests here are always
extremely late as well. 2013 was picked on November 5th!
Grenache, Alicante, Grecanico and a bunch of grapes Salvo can't recognize are planted here. The
vines are 110 years old, and all planted in franc de pied.
Speaking of franc de pied, a new plantation is in the works, all in massale.
Of course, everything will be raised in Albarello.
"Albarello is the best and oldest training method in the world. If this was used world-wide, fungal
illness disappear. Other training systems are for chemicals and machines."
That's quite a hefty statement I'm sure many would disagree with. Perhaps Salvo was specifically
referring to hotter regions? Then again, Mark Angéli trains all his Chenin in gobelet. Ultimately, his
argument lies in the fact that Albarello gets no shadows from other vines and is exposed to more air.
"The cure for any plant's illness is sunshine."
Salvo then busted out a picnic basket with a couple of bottles in it.
It was none other than 2011 Vinudilice Sparkling!
Vinudilice is the wine produced from the Vigna Bosco, and usually consists of a still rosé field blend.
With the 2011 vintage, Salvo exceptionally decide to make bubbles due to low quantities and
maturity issues.
The wine is already sold out.
From Vigna Bosco, we headed to Vinupetra, undoubtedly in the top 5 vineyards I've seen in my
lifetime.
At 240 years old (!!!), Salvo thinks these are "probably" the oldest existing vines in Etna.
"You have to treat these vines with the same respect and care and you would a 90 year old person.
When you're 90 you can't do the same stuff you were doing when you were 20. It's the same with
vines."
On average, the work to maintain these old vines requires his team 250 days of work. Young vines
trained in Cordon on these soils require approximately 50 days of work a year.
"40 years ago, all of Etna's vines were trained in Albarello. Now it's water, chemicals and vines
planted to last only 20 years before being ripped up."
The craziest of these vines were HUGE. Here's one taller than me!
And I'm tall!
Conveniently enough, Salvo's house overlooks Vinupetra, and it was at a long table that we sat down
to eat dinner and taste wine.
As always, the antipasti alone was enough to fill an average human being up.
Of course, Salvo has a oven set up outside, perfect for making flatbreads and pizza.
As we set up, we asked for a spit bucket. Reluctantly, Salvo got up and brought some to the table.
The one on my side had a large spider web in it.
"As you can see, no one uses that thing!"
We started with some white, then the 2013 Vinudilice Rosé, which if you recall is from the Vigna
Bosco we visited earlier. Before Salvo acquired it, the prior owner used this parcel to make house
wine for his family.
"When I took over, he told me that his grandfather had always made the wine with one night skin
maceration. So I continue this tradition."
We then moved on to the Etna Rosso 2012. Did you know that the Etna DOC is the oldest in Sicily,
dating back to 1968? Did you also know that this wine is a wine illegally made in a Palmento? If not,
re-read this. On the subject, Salvo chimed in:
"Sicilians always expect something illegal. So we don't worry."
The Etna Rosso is always foot-trodden, then and open fermentation takes place for 7 to 10 days
before the wine is racked to chestnut barrels.
The tasting ended with younger vintages of Vinupetra, followed by 06, 02 and 01.
As we ended dinner, Salvo toasted us and had this to say:
"I thank you all for coming and doing what you do. Wine is important, wine is three dimensional:
there is time (the cycle of the year, the wine aging...), space (the context of where it is consumed,
whether in its place of origin or all the way in the US...) and the mental (how it makes us feel, how it
brings us together...)."
I guarantee you a lot was lost in translation, but it was a special way to end a special night.
This visit at I Vigneri took place in April,
2012.
Words by Jules Dressner, photos by Lauren Feldman, Shawn
Mead and Ian Becker.
We'd gotten some bad news during lunch at Nusserhof. Our early afternoon flight from Verona to
Catana had been cancelled, and the only alternative was an 8:30 A.M flight. From Venice... No one
wanted to lose an entire day in Sicily so the group was ok with it, but it meant waking up at 5:30 am
and an hour and a half drive to the airport.
On an aside: you know a plane is old when there's still ashtrays on each arm rest...
After a quick, restless flight, we were officially in Sicily! With tiny eyes, everyone grabbed their
rental cars and we drove to Randazzo. After checking into our hotel, we were greeted by Alfio from I
Vigneri. We arrived just around lunch, and he took us to the incredibly named San Giorgio e il Drago.
During the meal, Alfio opened up some Vinudilice rosé. It comes from a parcel called Vigna Bosco.
It's a red and white field blend composed mostly of Alicante, with a tiny bit of mystery white and a
bunch random reds (i.e: they're not sure what the grapes are), all interplanted together. The soil is
ash, the elevation is 1300 meters and the vines are a 100+ years old. We also had the Etna Rosso,
also from 100 year old vines. Both are vinified with native yeasts and minimal sulfur, added only at
bottling. Both are very good and paired excellently with the local pastas and rabbit served at lunch.
At some point during the meal, Alfio informed us that Salvo wouldn't be able to join us because of an
unexpected medical operation, and that he and Maurizio Pagano (I Vigneri's head honcho) would
host us instead. It was nothing serious, but Salvo did have to stay in the hospital for a few days so
we didn't get to see him...
After eating, we set off to see the first of many vineyard sights.
A quick walk up the path leads to more terraced vines and Mount Etna looming in the background.
Once we'd made it up top, we were greeted by the incredible Maurizio Pagano.
This guy is a serious character: his conviction and passion for viticulture, at least in his way of
vocalizing it, is unparalleled. On a prior visit, he apparently told Arianna Occhipinti (who had tagged
along with Jeff Vierra and was translating), something like:
"We give him (Salvo) the gold, he makes the wine."
At this point, if you're not familiar with the association Salvo Foti founded 12 years ago, you may be
asking yourself, what exactly is I Vigneri?
The renaissance of Etna wines over the last decade can be largely, if not entirely attributed to Salvo
Foti and the team he put together in 2000. Salvo was born in Etna, and has always had a love affair
with the wines of his region. He is also famous oenologist, and makes the wine for a lot of people in
the area. I Vigneri is the culmination of Salvo's desire to promote an environmentally sound
agriculture with a simultaneous return to traditional farming. Taken from the association's official
website:
"The "Maestranza dei Vigneri" ("Winegrowers Guild") was established in Catania in 1435. This
important association of vine cultivators working in the Etna region was the foundation stone for
professionalism in wine growing and production.
After 500 years, I Vigneri is today the name of a company of winegrowers and producers operating
around Etna and in eastern Sicily. The proprietors are vine experts like Salvo Foti (www.salvofoti.it)
and a group of local growers from the Etna region.
I Vigneri is the culmination of more than 30 years experience in Eastern Sicily, of historic, social and
technical research aimed at achieving "excellence" in wine growing and producing. We have sought
to use non-invasive methods and systems, to respect local traditions and our own ancient grape
varieties as far as possible, and to avoid the damage that over-reaching ambition and egoism can
cause. Our work ethic lies in the pleasure of work well done, without frenzy, in harmony above all
with ourselves, and with all that surrounds us: environment, nature, the volcano Etna, which is so
much a part of us. I Vigneri is also a holistic system of grape growing and wine production which
respects our environment."
The deal is this: if you want Salvo Foti to make your wine, the I Vigneri team have to be the ones
taking care of the vines. This means immediately shifting to organic viticulture practices, eliminating
any mechanical labor, hand harvesting and a focus on lower yields. The vines must also be trained in
albarello, which Salvo believes is the only way to express Etna's terroir. Maurizio leads the pack, and
all in all 35 vignaoli are responsable for day to day maintenance of A LOT of vines. These guys have
been in the vineyards their whole lives, so they know what they're doing. What's great is that this
also offers them job security they might not otherwise have, all while encouraging locals to take
pride in traditional agriculture.
Everyone involved is extremely proud, and they show it by always being adorned in I Vigneri gear
(see Maurizio's photo above, and the great pics from their 2011 harvest). When you see the red gear
with an albarello vine somewhere on it, you know who's taking care of business...
At the first parcel we visited, the guys had just planted some very young vines.
All vines, especially when they are very young and the roots haven't really sunk into the ground,
have to stay on stakes because the ash soils are so loose that they could easily be ripped out during
routine plowing and soil work.
On the same site, we visited the beautiful palmento where the Etna Rosso is made.
The fruit is brought up a flight of stairs to the top of the edifice where the grapes are foot trodden.
The juice then trickles down into concrete vats below to begin fermentation. I once again direct you
to the 2011 harvest pics, which (un-chronologically) document this process. We also checked out the
attached -and very abandoned- barrel room.
There was actually still wine in that thing, and it stunk!
After visiting another site, we took a quick rest before dinner, which took place at I Vigneri's club
house. Ok, it's not really a club house, but it's a little space in downtown Randazzo where you can
buy the wines, the two books Salvo has written about wine, as well as his novel. Yes: Salvo Foti
wrote a novel. We had the "Vinujancu" as an aperitif: this white wine comes from a small parcel at
1200 meters altitude; the grape is Carricante, and indigenous varietal. The wine is un-sulfured.
Maurizio was there, and he was almost a different person. Casually dressed in jeans and sneakers,
his stern persona from earlier was gone; he was all smiles and told funny stories the whole night. He
did however keep reiterating how great all the the wines were throughout the meal...
Upstairs, a big table was set up for us and we got to taste a bunch of I Vigneri wines that Salvo
makes but we don't import. To be clear, we only import Salvo's line of wines. I asked Kevin why, and
he explained that many of them were inoculated and/or more copious in sulfur. I was surprised to
hear this, since I naively assumed that because Salvo was so insistent that the vines be worked
organically, he'd also be diligent on spontaneous fermentation. Kevin replied:
"You have to choose your battles. Salvo has chosen to focus his energy on agriculture and the
environment, and in doing so he's cleaned up a lot of Etna's vineyards. With his own line, we're on
the same page philosophically. But he still makes the wine his clients want him to make for them.
Spontaneous fermentation and low sulfur is a risk many are not willing to take."
The next day, we woke up bright and early to check out even more vineyards, starting with the Vigna
Bosco.
We got to meet Ciccio the mule!
I Vigneri does as much soil work with mules as they can. It's a lot of hard work for both man and
beast, and Maurizio told us that the last one couldn't handle it: his heart exploded on the job!
Maurizio punctuated this story by doing "the meh".
It was pretty hilarious. I'm pretty sure that if he was a New Yorker, he would accompanied the
gesture with: "Whaddaya gonna do?". Fortunately, Ciccio is a great worker and Maurizio likes him a
lot.
But he'll still ride him if he's not doing a good job.
Alfio told Ciccio he WAS doing a good job, and not to worry about Maurizio always bossing him
around.
We then visited another new site, where a mystery white was being grown ("ask Salvo what it is!")
Before we knew it, it was lunch time so we went back to San Giorgio e il Drago because Alfio said we
weren't going to find better. Nobody complained.
Wines
D.O.C "Etna Rosso"
"Vinudilice"
"Vinujancu"
"Vinupetra"
"Vigna di Milo"