An Island Wine Paradise, Salina and the wines of Carlo Hauner

Joel Butler MW 4.13 4.28.2026

CARLO HAUNER, Isola Salina (www.hauner.it)

Of course, you must have a Range Rover 4WD vehicle on the island of Salina! Hauner’s is parked in front of his office, house and goes back to the cellars and cave at the far end of the drive. (JBMW)

Sailing out to Isola Salina, one of the three major islands in the Isole Eolie (Aeolian Islands) about 31 miles by ship from the port of Milazzo, Sicily, the sea moderately rough (though sunny skies) with strong westerly winds bringing a rain squall in our direction, I verily understood how these small islands north of Sicily got their name.

In the Odyssey by Homer, Book X, there are several lines about Aeolus, god of the winds:

“We reached Aeolia, a floating island,
where Aeolus lived, son of Hippotas,
whom immortal gods hold dear.(1) Around it,
runs an impenetrable wall of bronze,
and cliffs rise up in a sheer face of rock.
His twelve children live there in the palace,
six daughters as well as six full-grown sons.
He gave the daughters to the sons in marriage,
and they are always at a banquet feasting,
beside their dear father and good mother, 10
with an infinite store of fine things to eat
set out before them.” Translated by Ian Johnston, Vancouver Island University,2024

We didnt’ see a wall of bronze, but definitely steep cliffs! The wind rarely let up, and one can understand how Odysseus was hoping that the god’s gift of wind would bring him home faster to Ithaca. Didn’t work out that way, since his crew in their ignorance opened the sack of wind, letting them all out and blowing them off course back to Aeolus, who was not happy about this. He refused more help, which put Odysseus and crew at the mercy of Odysseus’ enemy, the sea god Poseidon. Read the book—it’s pretty exciting!

The islands are home to a few thousand people, though summer brings hundreds of thousands of tourists and summer home residents. IF the most famous of the island group is the always erupting Stromboli (check out Luchino Visconti’s film Stomboli of 1950 with Ingrid Bergman-it’s not his best, but you would almost swear he literally ordered the volcano to erupt on cue, with Ms Bergman traipsing across one of the goat trails not far from the top of the nearly 3000’ mountain!), the most important are Salina, Volcano, and Lipari.

When you approach Salina by sea, there are indeed steep slopes around the island that fall off the high (up to 3000’) summits of the island’s two volcanic peaks. And it is on these slopes primarily, closer to sea level, where Carlo Hauner Jr. has vineyards. Some he owns, others he buys from the small growers. Hauner also has 14 ha of vineyards on Vulcano, besides the 10 ha/25 acres on Salina, a little by the winery in Lingua in the southeast, the rest in the Val di Chiesa (only white wine) in the center. A couple of other producers (Caravaglio & Capofaro (Tasca d’Almerita) have theirs on the north shore. See map below)

Picture of the steep slopes of the main volcano on Salina rising 3000’ from sea level taken from ferry, with lots of spray on window, as we come into the port of Santa Marina. Pretty, but rugged. (JBMW)

Google earth map of Salina, showing proximate vineyard locations on the island (north is up) JBMW

Hauner’s wines have been favorites for decades; hard to find, but so delicious, refreshing and rich all at once. They are also rather rare; he is one of the few producers still making wine in the islands. Hauner is not the oldest producer on Salina but Carlo Hauner Sr. certainly is responsible for the modern revival of the old winemaking traditions, establishing his winery in 1968, now run by his son, Carlo Hauner Jr.

The special grape of the islands, Malvasia di Lipari, a likely relative of the original Malvasia (Monemvasia from that town in Greece’s Peloponnese, which was centuries ago controlled by Venice) is a delicate difficult to grow and finicky variety. It is an old, and quite famous wine as Hauner (Jr.)notes in his notes on their website:.

“In a trip to the Aeolian Islands toward the second half of the 18th century, Alessandro Dumas’ father, a French man of refined tastes wrote: “...a bottle of Malvasia delle Lipari was brought; it was the most excellent wine that I had ever tasted in my life… in 1788, it was the scientist Lazzaro Spallanzi, one of the founders of modern biology, who recounted how Malvasia was produced: “...do not remove this grape from the vine unless it is perfectly matured, knowing this from the beautiful golden color and sweet flavor that it has.”

While it could be a grape dating back to the first Century CE (Diodorus Siculus), more likely it has been there since the 16^th Century, possibly by Venetian traders . Here in the Aeolian islands, it is made as a dry wine, which Hauner does extremely well, but its true beauty shines when made as a late harvest, or passito sweet wine. Hauner is a master of this, and it was for this variety I wanted to visit him.

Salina’s two high volcanic peaks rise to 3000’ from the sea in this shot taken from the port of Lipari, about 8 miles distant to the southeast. (JBMW)

The Hauner family originally were from Austro-Hungarian Empire. Carlo’s father, the original Carlo Hauner Sr., moved to Brescia Italy, and also spent time in Argentina, where Carlo Jr. spent younger years. His father was a noted painter and designer, exhibiting worldwide. He first went to Salina for vacation in the early 1960’s and after coming back over several years, decided to move there permanently, along with son Carlo Jr. He learned of the local wine specialty by talking with the local growers, fell in love with it, and decided to establish his own winery, making the old traditional style of passito wine famous before phylloxera wiped out the vineyards around 1900. This style of wine became noted for its luscious, yet vibrant quality, and because of its production method using sun-dried grapes, it was a very stable wine, both useful and lucrative, since the British navy and British merchants in Sicily were eager customers.

After his father’s death in 1996, Carlo Jr. (photo below) took over the winery and vineyards, some on steep terraces of the mountain, assisted by his wife and sons. He subsequently expanded production by buying vineyards on Vulcano, which is more favorable for red wines, not something that the Eolian Islands are really noted for, but nonetheless have helped expand the Hauner brand. On Volcano, Carlo Hauner (we speak of Carlo Hauner Jr. from here on) planted not only Malvasia, but also Nero d’Avola, Alicante (Grenache), Sangiovese, Grillo, and even a little Chardonnay, as well as local red variety Nocera. On Salina itself most of the production is Malvasia (di Lipari DOC). Moreover, as we found out to our delight, Hauner grows the famous Eolian capers, which are delicious and which he also sells. As for his grapes, Hauner uses a table de trie, a sorting table to select out only the best quality fruit.

A notable familial approach to production extends to the labeling of the wines. All of these were based upon paintings by his father, as in the example below entitled “Sciara del Fuoco” (1978)/Fire flow (lava).

Hauner’s efforts to modernize the winery ensures that freshness and the purity of the fruit shines through, even when making the traditional Malvasia Passito, in which the normale version receives about two weeks drying on the roof, while the Riserva is dried for over one month. Both are allowed to ferment slowly at cool temperatures for up to eight months followed by aging up to two years in the cellars.

What I particularly found exciting, however, was Hauner’s diligence in crafting (carefully!) dry Malvasia. Malvasia can oxidize easily, and show some rough phenolic bitterness when made in a dry style, if not tenderly pressed and oxygen well-managed, or if yields are too large.

Carlo Hauner opening up a recently bottled 2025 Iancura Malvasia Secco as we sit tasting on his porch, with the sea behind (JBMW)

As the notes below indicate, most of these wines are finely made, expressive of the maritime climate and volcanic landscape. Some are, shall we say, still a bit of an experiment. Certainly, not unlike the wines from Marco de Bartoli in Marsala, and COS near Vittoria, they represent both modern fresh takes on traditional (even ancient) wines of Sicily, and innovative efforts to make lively contemporary styles that people will enjoy under the sun, with wind-whipped sea spray adding a bracing, refreshing atmosphere to the delights in the glass.

I can’t thank Carlo enough for taking the time, on a beautiful Sunday morning, to talk with us, taste his wines, and enjoy the small paradise that Salina is for people, and the unique wines made there in these Islands.

Carlo Hauner 2025 Salina Bianco Secco IGP Salina Inzolia & Catarratto 50-50%. Bottled in Feb. 2026. 30k bottles and best seller. Herby, floral bouquet. Quite fresh, and almost minty-herbal rosemary scents of the local flora! Aged in inox only. Sea breeze vibrancy! Tasty, if not complex. Fried calamari, bring ‘em on! Now-2027. 12% *+ €16

Carlo Hauner 2025 Iancura, Terre Siciliane IGP Malvasia di Lipari Secca 90%, Inzolia 10%. Bottled in Feb 2026. Iancura=”time of the day at winery when the sea and sky are the same color, thus ‘melting of colors,”-- CH. Floral, perfumed, herbal bouquet, strong and persistent. Delicious, ripe and fine with Pecorino di Vulcano! Medium body, Fine floral flavors with moderately high acidity. Good length and more focus. The Malvasia is low yields and hard to cultivate, but sends down deep roots, and thus finishes with a mineral saline intensity. Fine expression and given that most Malvasia are slightly sweet, a unique treat. Now-2027. 12.% ** €18-21

Carlo Hauner 2024 Chardonnay del Vulcano, IGP Salina 10 year old vineyard, only made in inox (stainless steel) tanks. Yellow green-gold straw color. Smells like Chardonnay! Cuttings from Rauscedo, only 6000 bottles (500 cases). Ample weight, appley fresh flavors. Vineyard is on top of the volcano. Fairly rich flavors with a clear, bright stony-mineral finish. Well done with some mineral-smoky, volcanic notes. Now-2027. 12.5% *+ €18

Carlo Hauner 2025 Hierà Rosato, IGP Salina Mostly Alicante with Nero d’avola and Nocera. Rosé de Presse. Very little color, all done in inox. White-pale yellow to clear color. Label (see group photo above, second from left) shows a fishing light (Hiera). Floral, spicy, aromas with some bitter cherry notes. Solid fruitiness with hint of star anise, fresh red currants, bracing fruit and good finishing acidity. Even better in six months! Now 12.5% *+ €17

Carlo Hauner 2023 Salina Rosso, IGP Salina Nerello Mascalese & Nero d’Avola 50-50% All grown on Vulcano. Pretty garnet ruby. Bouquet reveals a hint of woodsiness along with strong spicy, dusty- cherry, cedar-tabac aromas. Soft tannins, mature flavors, with hint of graphite. Aged in inox and older barriques. Rustic and appealing-island wine, if just a touch lacking in freshness? Now-2027. 13.5% *- €18

Carlo Hauner 2023 Hierà Rosso, IGP Salina Alicante, Nero d’Avola, Nocera. Fermentation with 2-3 weeks skin contact in inox tanks. Strong, savory-earthy, volcanic aromas. Literally spicy, black cherry, round, sweet flavors with fine, rich peppery-earth and gamy accents. Savory delicious finish with moderate tannins. Good with grilled tuna for sure! More depth than Salina Rosso and more complete. Now-2028+. 13.5% ** €23?

Carlo Hauner 2023 Vulcanorosso, IGP Salina Sangiovese 90%, Corinto10%. Made from ‘passito’ grapes, then aged in barriques 2 years. Moderate garnet-ruby mature color already. Fairly light tannins good acidity on palate and more structured (tensile) than Salina Rosso. Less expressive, but this is the FIRST vintage from young vines. Good, if in need of a couple years, yet I suspect this is just not a good mix for this island! Hauner admits that planting on Vulcano newer vineyards involves a certain degree of ‘experimentation.’ Lacks some length and depth. Time will tell. Now. 13% *-

Carlo Hauner 2023 Malvasia delle Lipari Naturale DOC Malvasi delle Lipari 95%, Corinto5%. Made in a ‘Late Harvest’ style, not passito. Natural appassimento on vine, harvest in October. Around 80 g/l RS, so lightly sweet, and aged only in inox for 8 months. Pale green, straw color. Fresh and floral grapy nose, with slight herbal perfume. Rich medium sweet flavors but so fresh, with mineral-chalky, herbal finish. Good acidity, long fine finish with slight smoky aromas and depth. Very tasty, long mix of herbs, sweet melon or apricot. 1k cs/500 ml. Now-2034. 12.5% ** €23/500ml

Carlo Hauner 2023 Malvasia delle Lipari Passito DOC 95%, Corinto5%. Three weeks appassimento in sun, 120gl/RS. Rich honey, mineral-minty flavors and bouquet. Solid density. Superb richness and structure, with herby, apricot-honey fruit, concentrated yet fresh, lovely, balanced and rich yet vibrant finish. Great stuff now, but can keep! Great value. Now-2035 13.5% *** €26/500ml

Carlo Hauner 2023 Malvasia delle Lipari Passito Riserva Malvasi delle Lipari 95%, Corinto5%.. 40 days appassimento, then 40 day ferment in small barrels, followed by 2 years aging in barriques. Deeper amber-gold to Passito above. Spicy, rich honey-apricot and dried herbal bouquet. Much richer flavors/aromas, with some vanilla accent adding definition to long finish and greater complexity. Vanilla notes adds a creaminess to the fine fruit, which is stunning. 150-160 gl/RS. Fairly viscous but such good acidity. Now-2040 13.5% *** €48/500ml