Liquid Love Letter: Vine People
Courtesy of Unsplash | Photo by Anastasiia Rozumna
That was my first thought when I stepped into a vineyard owned by Feudo Maccari, on Mt Etna in Sicily. Unlike vines in much of the world that are trellised, whose branches extend horizontally from their trunks like arms linking one to another, these Nero d’Avola vines on Etna grow as self-standing individuals. Row after row, like troops of soldiers in formation, each vine aligned with its own wooden post for support to keep it upright.
I hadn’t ever seen anything like it, in person and up close. Which is maybe why my first impression – soldiers – was entirely wrong.
I reconsidered. I walked further into the vineyard. I stood still. I looked from vine to vine, and felt the very (very) odd sensation that I was looking person to person, and eye to eye. I shivered. Most of the vines were about as tall as I am, with a few a little taller, and a few a little shorter. At eye level, at this time of year, what you see is the foliage, the green leaves of the vine that provide shade for the bunches of grapes that would be tucked within and underneath the leaves’ protective cover. (It’s just post-harvest, so there was not much fruit to be found still on the vines.) It’s windy on Etna, and the leaves swayed and quivered in the sun.
It felt welcoming. Not militaristic or soldierly at all. The vines, about as tall and broad in their shoulders as I am, seemed somehow approachable. It made me want to step up to it, to a “vine person,” and start a conversation. I wanted to ask about their lives, and what it was like to live there, on Mt Etna, year after year and in most cases decade after decade, cycling through the seasons and the volatility of that incredibly unique and elementally powerful environment.
Before I go further, let me pause to say that it might sound a little bit weird to humanize a vine. I am aware that it’s weird to want to start talking to it. I didn’t talk to it, for the record. But I did talk to the people who care for these vines, and asked them what it was like to face them eye to eye, day after day.
It got playful very quickly. Enrico Bigiarini, Feudo Maccari’s head agronomist, gamely and thoughtfully picked up the metaphor. Quite unlike soldiers, these vines are like grandmothers, he said. Not only are they welcoming, but they are also generous. Not only do you approach them, but you also tell them things. Secrets, even. They have lived hard days, hard decades, hard lives, with the gnarled bones and rough-to-the-touch skin to show for it. Those wooden posts to hold each vine upright are much like a grandmother’s cane.
And at the end of the visit, what does a grandmother give a child?
Candy.
My favorite “candies” from Feudo Maccari – not in the sense of being sweet on the palate, but in the sense of gifts from these vine people – are the 2019 Saia (made with Nero d’Avola grapes), the 2022 Animalucente (comprised of 85 percent Carricante and 15 percent Minnella grapes) and, on the lighter side, the 2022 Family and Friends and the particularly special 2022 Rosé di Neré.
Courtesy of Unsplash | Photo by Dagnija Berzina
As I work to tame my jealousy of Cathy for having just visited Sicily, and specifically Mt. Etna, a feeling of pride and elegance washes over me as I think back to all of the bottles I opened during my wine bar days from the magical active volcano that produces some of the most high quality wines from a place that is still relatively undiscovered by the wine drinking world.
Maybe it's our obsession with the activity of the volcano. Etna is often in the news across Europe and the USA, and we watch with wonderment as lava flows down towards the vineyards - but usually not into them.
So this week we celebrate Catarratto, Carricante, and Nerello Mascalese. You can find a mind-blowing wine on great wine lists across the USA for a fair price, hailing from this marvel of nature. Where water meets fire, and divine growth is only continuing to take the wines to the next level.
Here are some producers I know and love, and highly recommend you get your hands on. Remember this article as you smile big. enjoying these undervalued wines:
Vini Franchetti "Passopisciaro"
Happy volcanic drinking.
