Tenuta di Castellaro - Bianco Porticello, Lipari, Italy (2021)

TASTING NOTES

A blend of floral, aromatic Malvasia delle Lipari with tangy, grapefruit-driven Carricante that smells like honey and flowers, but on the bone-dry palate you get chalky minerality, Mediterranean herbs, sea spray, jackfruit, soursop and nectarines. Super refreshing and delicious, we could drink this all day.

REGION	Italy > Sicily > Lipari
GRAPE(S)	Carricante &  Malvasia delle Lipari
VINTAGE	2021
FORMAT	750ml Bottle
ABV	12.5%
FEATURES	Low Intervention, Organic, Vegan-Friendly
SCALE	Dry

From high-elevation vineyards on sandy volcanic soils, Lipari is a volcanic island in the Aeolian archipelago a few hours off the north coast of mainland Sicily, known mostly for its tiny production of sweet passito wines made from dried Malvasia delle Lipari grapes. 

Massimo Lentsch, a businessman from Bergamo founded Tenuta di
Castellaro with his wife Stefania Frattolio in 2006.  The vineyards are surrounded on all sides by the Aeolian sea, where vines shared the volcanic soil with robust caper plants. 

The estate is a member of the I Vigneri (as signaled by the gnarled old vine embossed on the bottle), a winegrowers' guild that dates back to 1435 but was resurrected by Lentsch's consultant Salvo Foti, the godfather of low-intervention wine in Sicily, and missionary for high-density bush vines.

The winery itself has zero impact on the environment by utilizing solar and wind power.