VignadiMilo Caselle Etna Bianco Superiore DOC 2022

This Etna Bianco Superiore favours calm over effect. It brings to mind a herbal infusion more than a fermented drink, showing a slightly oxidative character, clear contours and a rhythm all its own.

The grapes come from the Contrada Caselle above Milo, at around 750 metres altitude on Mount Etna. The black soils of cooled lava, volcanic ash and sand give the wine its saline freshness.

Single-varietal Carricante from old, ungrafted vines of sélection massale, trained in the traditional alberello bush-vine system. After hand harvesting, the whole grapes are gently pressed, the juice settles naturally for around 30 hours and ferments with native yeasts for 13 to 15 days in 2000-litre oak casks. This is followed by twelve months of ageing in oak casks, with minimal sulphur addition before fermentation and bottling; bottling takes place in May of the second year. 12.0% vol., dry.

The entry flows gently, carried by an austere frame of powdery fine tannins, with the ripe acidity staying discreetly in the background. White peach, green apricot and lemon oil remain restrained, and the core is saline. Tightly knit texture, linear flow, a stony, cool and saline finish.

It pairs well with pan-fried turbot with herb butter, octopus with olive oil and lemon, braised fennel and pasta with seafood.

Salvo Foti founded I Vigneri in reference to the winegrowers' guild Maestranza dei Vigneri of 1435. Around 35 men work the small parcels by hand, plant new vines, reclaim old plots and maintain the dry stone walls. There are neither iron posts nor wires in the vineyards, only chestnut stakes from Etna. The alberello bush-vine training method has been declared an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO.