Deep amber

Malvasia is officially translated into English as ‘malmsey’, but this is confusing as that term more usually refers to the wine from Madeira, rather than the grape. Malvasia derives from a Greek, Μονεμβασία, or monem-vasia, “a place with one entrance”. Monemvasia is a fort on Greece’s Southern Laconian cape.
The Malvasia of Lipari wine has been controlled by denomination of origin (d.o.c.) from 1973, with a production of approximately
1,100 hecto-litres a year, produced with a minimum of 95% white malvasia grapes, plus black grapes (called “minutidda” by the
locals, or Black Corinto by the official denomination).



According to how much we have specified before, It is difficult to say what it is the historical origin of “Malvasia of the Lipari” (you’d need to complete a scientific survey to compare the various vines, and in particular those of Laconia with the Cretan version), and it’s worth noting that the first historical document referring to Aeolian malvasia is cargo note of a notary public from Messina, dated 1653.



The vine today is cultivated in rows; while the old system has almost completely disappeared, the last examples being in Malfa (this was a low trellis network called prieule, with squares of 1.40 x 1.40 metre within those of 5 x 5 metre).

“Withering” is used in the production of malvasia wine: the grapes, after a very careful harvest, are laid down on so-called “cannizze” (mats made with local canes).



Here they wither, dry, slowly, for 10-20 days, according to the weather. There is a daily procedure of “scannizzamento” and “incannizzamento”, that is, the labourers move the cannizze into the light during the sunny hours and into the “pinnate” (special ‘huts’ with an open side) over night or during wet or rainy days.





When the bunches are very dry and withered they are taken to the presses, and squeezed until the last drop.

The juice is then placed in chestnut or durmast barrels and allowed to ferment. It then undergoes two decantings to clarify it, one in January and the other around March. From April, there’s nothing else to do but enjoy what the Italian biologist Lazzaro Spallanzani called, in 1700, this “rare and delicious drink” that “is deep amber in colour, generous and yet mellow, that entirely fills the mouth with a lovely fragrance”.

Bottles of Malvasia delle Lipari actually produced in Salina Island .... empty!!

Aeolian beauty

Salina is the greenest of the seven Aeolian Islands. Un unforgettable experience is here waiting for you. You will learn the secrets of Sicilian cuisine; you will swim in the crystal blue sea and explore the rich and wilde nature of the island. You will be surprised by Salina's people warm and kind hospitality, the same way you will be from the taste, the quality and the freshness of its sea and land products.

The ingredients of this magic and dreamlike holiday are: the sun and the sea, the vulcans, the capers, the tomatoes, the wilde fennel and malvasia...

Boat shelters near Pollara beach

Rocks and clear sea

Rinella gulf

Fishermen's wooden boats

Walking up to Monte Fossa delle Felci

The sight from the top of Monte Fossa delle Felci looking at Lipari and Vulcano islands

Caper's flowers

Salina is the second largest of the seven Aeolian Islands, after Lipari. The island is formed by six inactive volcanoes, the two youngest and tallest of which are named Fossa delle Felci ("Fern Hollow") (962 m) and Monte dei Porri (860 m). In the Hellenic Age, the island was named "Didyme" (Δίδυμη), a Greek name which refers to the two mountains as "twins". The modern name comes from the production of sea salt which was performed at the southern tip of the island. Salina is the most fertile of the Aeolian isles, and grapes grown on Salina are used to make Malvasia wine. The island also exports capers and caperberries internationally. The island was inhabited as far back as the Bronze Age and has been developed and then abandoned many times over the subsequent millennia.
Areas on the island, including the two mountain peaks, were designated as a natural reserve in 1981. There are currently approximately 2300 residents living in Salina. Michael Radford's film Il Postino was partly shot on Salina.

Our guests will stay in a real aeolian style hotel very close to "casa del vento", a XIX century house base of our social meetings