Eolia, Malvasia, Bianco M, Salina IGT, Sicily, Italy 2022

90% Malvasia, 10% Catarratto and Inzolia from 4 different parcels in Malfa (altitude 200-260 m above sea level). All stainless steel, whole cluster, bâtonnage at least once a week, 6 months in bottle before release.

After a lifetime as wine enthusiasts, Luca Caruso and Natascia Santandrea embarked on a project to make wine together on Salina, a remote Aeolian island off the northern coast of mainland Sicily. Neither name is new to the wine world: both Caruso and Santandrea have curated impressive wine lists for their respective restaurants, Luca at his family’s Michelin-starred hotel, “Signum”, on Salina, and Natascia at the now shuttered “La Tenda Rossa” in central Tuscany.

During the pandemic in 2020, the couple (in life and in work) put their energy into something that they could call their own: making wine on Luca’s native Salina, a place he knows so well he could drive the roads with his eyes closed. 7.5 hectares and two white wines later, the concept is based on zoning; working in single parcels, harvesting and vinifying everything separately. Eolia is as much an homage to the energy, nature and profound amore for the island as it is an ode to the most recurring element of this couple’s relationship: vino buono.

Luca and Natascia choose to farm organically, as does the entirety of the island. They originally rented vineyards but are now buying specific sites, some of which was replanted in Spring 2023. Their approach in the vineyards embodies minimal intervention and takes into account the exposition and layout of each individual parcel. Oftentimes, white and red varietals are found in the same row providing a complex patchwork but ultimately improving biodiversity in the vineyards.