After waiting much of the day for waves to subside we took the fast ferry to the Island of Lipari, where the spanking-new high-tech Tenuta di Castellaro was built. The island is breathtaking. Below, my daughter Aili taking in the scenery.
The barricaia, or barrel room, is supported by columns of cement that were poured without a cast, directly into the earth in order to preserve the impressions of 5,000 years of stone strata. The winery has incredibly innovative sustainability systems built in, like a "wind tower" that opens and closes automatically, and who's job it is to capture cool nighttime winds, vent them below to a 350m long system of ducts where they maintain naturally cool temperatures in the cellar.
In one of the cleanest fermentation chambers I've ever seen, left to right: Sebastiano, Salvo Foti's right hand here on Lipari, winery owner Massimo Lentsch and his wife Stefania, Gabriele Colombo who manages sales, and Michele Giannetti, the brilliant architect who designed the winery and its many innovations. We tasted last night the Bianco Pomice, and Nero Ossidiana, unique and expressive wines crafted from indigenous grapes under the guidance of Salvo Foti. Those wines have been an important part of the WorldWide Cellars portfolio for 4 years, since the first vintage in 2008. We also tasted a new rosé from Nero d'Avola and Corinto, barrel-sampled a red wine from 100% Corinto, and finally, tasted the winery's first vintage (2012) of the jaw-dropping Malvasia delle Lipari, a vino passito made from the local Malvasia and the required 5% of Corinto. Sweet but not too sweet, with a nose of nectar, apricot, and a touch of honey and fig, it was brilliant.
How do you get to Lipari? Weather permitting, you can take a fast ferry that will travel up to 30knots. You'll be there in about 45 minutes. Hope you don't get seasick. One of Massimo's passions, and one of his reasons for investing in Lipari, is because of his passion for sailing. Lipari is famous for its winds, and the islands provide exceptional day-trip destinations.
