2024 Salvo Foti – I Vigneri, Vinudilice, Etna Rosato, Sicily, Italy.
The Salvo Foti Vinudilice is an elegant and almost textural example of Sicilian Rosé, with a bone dry and mineral toned presence on the palate with crushed strawberry, grapefruit, sour cherry and orange marmalade notes that are both delicate and lingering, along with red pepper, minty herb, rosewater and wet flinty stone accents. This vintage is bright and lively, making it refreshing, but still has its characteristic medium bodied mouth feel, it is a well rounded wine that goes great with a wide range of foods. For the Etna Rosato, the Foti’s use an ancient vineyard planted to mainly to well over hundred year old Alicante (Grenache) vines, but of course there is mixed with some other red and white grape varietals, some unknown. On the eastern side of Etna, these vines are located at 1,300 meters above sea level and are surrounded by a holly oak forest, and has its own micro climate and terroir. While not biodynamic in the biblical sense, Foti’s vines are all organic, set on soils of broken or decomposed lava stone of varying depth mixed with sand, and farmed by hand and sometimes with a horse, without any fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides of any kind.
Salvo Foti is well known for his tremendous efforts to rediscover, champion and propagate the indigenous grapes of Mount Etna under the I Vigneri banner, and as noted before, it is a group of visionary growers committed to native grapes and holistic grown vines, in an effort to preserve the island’s ancient wine growing traditions. Over the years he has isolated some of the best grapevines of Carricante and Nerello Mascalese in order to continue to preserve and grow the volcano’s amazing viticultural legacy. As mentioned before, Foti’s fermentations are done in open oak vats, with indigenous yeast and without the use of enzymes or temperature control, thankfully the nights by this time of year on the Volcano are surprisingly quite cold. There is very little sulfur ever used on the grapes or the must, if at all, with aging happening in mostly used wood or cement with racking and bottling, which is unfined and unfiltered, is done under lunar cycles. Again, as I’ve said before, this is a wine of beauty and mouth feel with subtle floral and steely elements, it is incredibly stylish, without pretense, and flexible, I suggest spicy sea foods, especially grilled octopus, streamed mussels and or salmon. These Foti, or I Vigneri, wines are some of my favorites, as you can tell by reading my reviews here at grapelive.com, and I highly recommend them.
($45 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive