The emergence of Sicily’s Mount Etna as the source of some of Italy’s (and the world’s) greatest wines is thanks in large part to Salvo Foti. This immensely talented, fiercely dedicated viticulturist and winemaker began work as a consultant in Eastern Sicily in 1981 and has played an outsized role in Etna’s rise to prominence.
Foti has made wines for some of Etna’s most important modern-era estates (Benanti; Gulfi; Biondi), but his “I Vigneri” project is a career capstone, focused maniacally on hand-farmed vineyards and traditional, resolutely natural winemaking. With the help of his two sons, Simone and Andrea, Foti crafts today’s otherworldly “Vinupetra,” his top red, from 100-year-old vines that are carefully cultivated by hand. It is made in minuscule quantities in the cramped cellar underneath Foti’s home and, because of its scarcity and consistent excellence, has taken on a mythical quality like that of the rarest red Burgundies (if not the wallet-pulverizing price tag). The remarkable purity and silken texture of today’s 2017, which is mostly Nerello Mascalese grown on gnarled little bush vines known as alberelli (“little trees”), is quintessential Etna—as perfumed as great Burgundian Pinot Noir but more wild and smoky. It is deeply concentrated yet seemingly weightless, as the best Etna reds tend to be, and it bears repeating that a wine this painstakingly hand-made, this authentically great, usually costs many, many multiples more. We have just a small amount of “Vinupetra” to share today, so if you crave the best of the best, I’d suggest taking as much as you can!
To describe Foti as a “rock star” is underplaying it somewhat: He’s kind of a messianic figure in Sicilian viticulture, someone who’s main preoccupation has been the rehabilitation of old, abandoned vineyards on Mount Etna (of which there are many). He founded “I Vigneri” in 2001, its name a reference to a vine-growers’ association first established on Etna in 1435. Using his encyclopedic knowledge of the Etnean vineyard landscape, Foti created an association of small growers who shared his philosophy; in addition to supplying other producers, the grower-members of the I Vigneri collective make some wines for themselves to sell, as they had way back in the 15th century. It’s Foti’s way of trying to restore some financial viability to small-scale farmers in the region. The I Vigneri logo—an illustration of an old, bush-trained vine—is attached to an assortment of wines, including a handful of more proprietary, tiny-production bottlings Foti and his sons produce from vineyards they control.
To put it another way, “Vinupetra” is one of about eight wines that are more exclusively associated with Foti, rather than the broader grower collective. The ancient vineyard that supplies it is walking distance from his house and contains a predominance of Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio (about 80% of this blend) with smaller amounts of Grenache and a small percentage of unidentifiable local varieties collectively referred to as Francisi. Situated on Etna’s north slope at an elevation of 700 meters, its hand-tilled vines are believed to exceed 100 years of age.
For the 2017 Vinupetra, 30% of the grapes were pressed with their whole clusters intact and fermented in large wooden vats on ambient yeasts. It aged for 12 months in a combination of 225- and 500-liter barrels (mostly used) and was bottled unfined and unfiltered, with the minimum-possible sulfur addition at bottling. It is a living, breathing creature, so give it some time to unwind in a decanter (45 minutes) before diving in. When you do, you’ll encounter a vivid ruby-red liquid with hints of garnet and pink and perfumed aromas of black cherry, raspberry, blood orange, rose hips, black tea, smoke, and underbrush. It is medium-plus in body with a very silky texture, its backbone (and aging potential) coming from its acidity. Although it will improve over the next 5-7 years at a minimum, I’m not planning on waiting very long to dig back into this prismatic beauty: Pour it into large Burgundy stems and serve at 60 degrees with the attached recipe—an old seasonal favorite from my restaurant days. I’m talking mid-winter magic here, complete with Sicilian blood oranges! Enjoy!
