Salvo and Simone Foti
I Vigneri, Etna, Sicily
Salvo Foti is a son of Sicily, born in Catania. He has a long career as viticultural and enological advisor to many leading estates. I Vigneri is his own project, deep to his heart and roots, which he runs with his son, Simone. Their mission is to restore dignity, skills and a good living to the grape growers who work the traditional vineyards of Etna. Salvo wanted to halt the loss of old “albarello” vineyards. Etna is hot property in more ways than one, and the momentum for ever expanding modern plantings is merciless. The old bush vineyards, on high slopes retained by dry stone terraces, follow a system devised by the romans. These ancient vineyards defy mechanisation but deliver unique personality, and top quality. I Vigneri is an agricultural collective, named after a Sicilian winegrowers’ guild, formed in the 1400s to train apprentice grape growers. Today’s collective comprises around 30 grape growers in Etna and eastern Sicily. Salvo is passionate about the incomparable value of old vines on Etna, but unsentimental about the hard graft they exact. You need to give the next generation of grape growers a reason to want to work them properly, he says. To start work at dawn. To freeze in winter, to melt in summer. I Vigneri achieves this with a range of premium, acclaimed wines and a community connected to its heritage.
