I Vigneri di Salvo Foti Vinudilice

Although the slopes of Etna have an ancient winemaking tradition, in the second half of the twentieth century the whole area suffered a major crisis, when the Ministry of Agriculture closed the mills (stone houses where the process of turning grapes into must and then into wine was carried out) in an attempt to regulate the sale of wine in the area. One of the surviving families was I Vigneri. His current descendant, winemaker Salvo Forti, aims to recover the viticulture of the past with a traditional approach and without being invasive with the land.

His I Vigneri di Salvo Foti Vinudilice wine is a rosé that is made directly in the vineyard from a blend of white and red grapes harvested and vinified all together. Garnacha, Minella and Grecanico vines from a vineyard located in a vast holm oak forest in Sicilian Ilice (hence the name “Ilice wine”), at 1300 m above sea level. It is probably the highest vineyard in Europe and, with a total of 0.35 hectares of sandy soils of volcanic origin, it is more than a century old. The vines are cultivated by hand using organic and natural products and the production is limited with a low number of clusters but with exceptional intensity. When the grapes reach optimum ripeness, they are harvested manually and taken straight to the winery. There, the whole grapes are pressed with static racking for about 30 hours. Fermentation is carried out with native yeasts for 16 days and then the wine is aged in steel tanks for 5 months. No sulphur is added and only gentle filtration is performed during bottling.

An internationally renowned winemaker who has known how to champion the DOC Etna better than anyone, Salvo Forti presents I Vigneri di Salvo Foti Vinudilice, a natural rosé from one of the highest vineyards in Europe that exudes fruitiness and versatility.