They call themselves I Custodi delle Vigne dell’Etna – the guardians of viticulture on Mount Etna. And they take this role quite literally. In collaboration with Salvo Foti, renowned oenologist and arguably the foremost expert on Sicilian grape varieties, they are committed to preserving traditional winemaking methods. This means terraced vineyards with hand-built lava stone walls, and bush-trained vines each tied to a single chestnut wood stake.
Naturally, there is a focus on both well-known and lesser-known local grape varieties. But above all, it is about a group of passionate local winegrowers who end each day exhausted but proud of their work.
Although no synthetic substances are used in the vineyard or the cellar, Salvo Foti does not refer to their wines as natural wines, but rather human wines. Because their wines are the product of a true symbiosis between nature and human effort. According to Foti, the most important ingredient in a good wine is the sincerity of the person who made it. This means not only a deep dedication to quality, but also a profound respect for all the generations of winemakers who came before — and those yet to come — on the slopes of Etna.
The terroir of Etna is truly unique. The volcanic soil, the elevation of la Muntagna, the Sicilian sun and the cool nights. This is what I Custodi express through their wines — each bottle a pure and vibrant interpretation of winemaking on Europe’s highest volcano.
