ORIGINAL INTERVIEW POSTED HERE at Wine Meridian:
Written by Cristina Gregori
An interview with Carlo Hauner, who with his winery, has demonstrated the prospect of realizing an enological mission in one of the most evocative yet difficult places in the international wine panorama.
Carlo Hauner welcomed me, without an appointment, with the simplicity of someone who hasn’t seen you in a long time and is happy to spend some time with you. Carlo is one of those people that can transmit great serenity and talk about his life and daring choices as if it was the most natural thing in the world. “There is nothing heroic or extraordinary about choosing to live in a paradise like Salina, but it is a expected result in the search for beauty and harmony, which has always guided me in life. And here you find a lot. I’ve always feared repetitive, boring jobs, even when I was an architect in Brescia, when I was constantly in search of excitement, perhaps the unexpected. And there is nothing more unpredictable than nature and the climate, which never tells you its plans!
The interview took place in his beautiful home/winery in Lingua, located in the municipality of Santa Maria di Salina, the most evocative part of the island: any way you look, you see the sea and smell its scent. Carlo Hauner offered me a taste of his wines along with local cheeses, with the same spontaneity with which he welcomed me, and began responding to my questions.
Who is Carlo Hauner?
We are a family of cosmopolitan artists, with bohemian origins. My grandfather was a cellist; my father an internationally recognized designer and painter who came to Salina on vacation in the Sixties and fell in love. He found inspiration here for his paintings (that you can even see on the wine labels) and on this island, which he liked to define as “for a select few.” He then discovered the charm of Malvasia, a sweet wine with an ancient history that was risking “extinction.” With almost maniacal passion, he studied the grape, exchanging ideas with farmers and hunting for vineyards that were abandoned because of phylloxera and emigration to the US and Australia. He restored 20 hectares subdivided in tiny plots of land divided over ten properties. And in the Eighties, he bilt a modern cellar, a lower Aeolian building that blended into the landscape, but was complete with refrigeration, and steal and wooden barrels.<0} Some of the innovations he introduced, such as drying on the vine and cooling techniques in fermentation, attracted the curiosity of many people in the wine business, including Veronelli, who was literally electrified by his charisma, and wrote an article about him in Espresso. The rest is about commitment and effort, without forgetting recognition and internationalization.
What does an island like Salina represent for a producer like Carlo Hauner?
It was surely a challenge: in the Sixties, Malvasia cultivation was almost completely forgotten, and the little bit of wine left, produced with ancient methods, was undrinkable. My father, thanks to a trip to France and his forward-thinking passion, decided to re-give it dignity, creating a modern wine. It wasn’t easy winning over the islanders, but with his charisma, and respect and love for local tradition, he became a positive role model.
Even today, in my wines, I want to express the strong ties to the land and the tenacity of those who produce it.
What does wine mean for Carlo Hauner?
Today wine is a work of art that arose from a design. For example, the origins of the Hierà red was inspired by the painting of Stromboli’s Sciara del Fuoco [the fiery lava flow visible for miles] my father painted that led me to find land on Vulcano to experiment with “heroic winemaking.” It was a success and later emulated by many small producers. Or the lancura white, which takes its name from the whiteness typical to the Aeolian islands, when the sea is so calm that it seems to blend in with the sky. Justifying the name, it is a contemplation wine because when there is lancura, you can’t and shouldn’t do anything, just savor a glass of wine and look out to the horizon.
What promotional activities did he carry out as president of the Consorzio?
In July 2016, the Consorzio was reinstated to protect the Malvasia delle Lipari DOC and the Salina IGT. Currently nine wineries on the island (Carlo Hauner, Tasca d’Almerita, Barone di Villagrande, Caravaglio, Virgona, Fenech, Colosi, Salvatore d’Amico and Punta Aria di Vulcano) participate but it will surely expand to the smaller wineries. The Consorzio has a new statute and board of directors and the Ministry of Agriculture has allowed them to operate erga omnes. In July, Malvasia Day took place against the splendid backdrop of Capofaro. This event was introduced by Professor Luigi Mojo and was dedicated not just to tastings, but also seminars on strategies to relaunch the Aeolian model. In fall, we planned a few similar events in Rome and Milan.
What are the main difficulties in communications?
With the creation of the Consorzio, we’ve also tried to alleviate ancient island individualism to make room for sharing and synergy. At Malvasia Day, we emphasized the need to regenerate a relationship with local restaurants but also to create a sort of “sisterhood” with other sweet wine production areas that face the same potential as well as problems.
Our designation is small but dynamic and prestigious. Carving out a niche for yourself in a competitive market that is often inflated with low-quality passiti is not easy. Sweet wines are currently difficult to sell, especially overseas. In facing this difficulty, and the enormous cost of producing quality wine, we have started vinifying Malvasia as a dry and aromatic white, the Salina Bianco IGT, which gives the winery a little breathing room, because even though it is sold at a lower price, it doesn’t have the high costs of drying and guarantees an almost immediate return.
What are your goals for the future?
Currently the winery has about 20 hectares spread out over Salina and Vulcano. Aside from a dry and sweet Malvasia, we also produce an excellent selection of white wines (Salina Bianco, Iancura), Rose (Hierà), reds (Salina Rosso, Carlo Hauner, Hierà Rosso Antonello), and grappa for a total of 130,000 bottles. I want to arrive at 200,000 bottles and open up to new markets like Brazil, where I was born.
It is hard to leave the winery of Carlo Hauner. I do, but not without first admiring a series of stylized fish, hung on the steel tanks, realized with recycled materials (aluminium, CDs, batteries, cans), by the Salina photographer Gaetano Cincotta.
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