Tenuta di Castellaro

Tenuta Di Castellaro was founded in 2006 on Lipari island at 350m altitude overlooking the sea, in a spectacular and unspoiled location. Lipari is the largest of the Aeolian Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the north coast of Sicily. Here they produce excellent organic wines.

The vineyards facing north-west have an incredible view of the islands of Salina, Alicudi and Filicudi, while to the south-east, looking out towards the island of Vulcano, is Cappero, a panoramic vineyard located on steep terraces directly overhanging the sea that boasts the ideal microclimate for the production of their Malvasia delle Lipari DOC.

Their vineyards are the result of the heroic recovery of abandoned soil and the careful selection of the healthiest and oldest native vines of the Aeolian Islands (like Carricante, Corinto Nero adn Malvasia). Thanks to the counseling of winemaker and agronomist Salvo Foti (founder of “I Vigneri” consortium) the vines are grown with the ancient Etnean bush (Alberello) system with the chestnut wood tutor without any help from mechanisation. The aim is to modify the plant’s products as little as possible in order to produce an absolutely natural wine that purely express the terroir and his viticultural heritage.

The Etna alberello cultivation system is extremely old, introduced in Sicily by the Greeks around 2000 years ago, and involves the three-dimensional arrangement of the vines with a density of over 9000 plants per hectare.

The 2000 square meters bio-energetic winery (designed by the architect Giannetti-Dalpiaz), is totally underground and built in a modern way to show the asset of the vernacular architecture, with columns that prove 20000 years of geological period. Right near the winery, a wind tower is used to refrigerate the winemaking operations in a natural way and zero impact on the environment.

Tenuta di Castellaro today also owns an old vineyard in Passopisciaro on Mount Etna. Here they grown the two vines Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio to produce their Etna Rosso Ottava Isola. This wine is the summary of the Aeolian territory ( Etna could be seen as the eight island of the Aeolian archipelago ): it emanates volcanic warmth and freshness, sea and mountain, sun and snow at the same time.