From Valtellina to Sicily: the story of the two wine nomads who this year are bringing their "winery" to Pantelleria

A “wandering” winery that makes territorial wines, but in different places every year, based on a nomadic viticulture strongly inspired by a naturalistic vision. It sounds like an impossible dream, a Hayao Miyazaki cartoon, a Jules Verne story. And yet it exists. Born from the passion for wine and for travelling, united in the discovery of terroirs that impose their unique personality. The two protagonists of this winemaking dream to the rhythm of a country ballad are Gian Piero Ioli, visionary architect from Valtellina, and Maria Elena Dioguardi, sommelier and traveller with a rebellious heart. We met them during Piccolo è bello, the event dedicated to small producers of Etna organised every year in Catania by Agata Arancio, expert sommelier and vice-president of Fis Sicilia.

The choice of the natural method

Gian Piero had already founded the Dislivelli winery in Valtellina in 2020. A vineyard of chiavennasca — the Valtellinese name for nebbiolo — in the Sassella area to produce exclusively Igt wines.
«I wanted to free myself from the rigid schemes of regulations to make a wine with a more essential approach, following an anthroposophical principle: letting nature self-regulate in the vineyard and express itself freely in the cellar. This sometimes means giving up part of the production».

The natural method is essential: space for yeasts and bloom naturally present, spontaneous intracellular fermentation and a long contact with the skins, lasting at least four months. In the 18th-century cellar, spherical Clayver or Pallò amphorae are used. «The perfect grapes enter whole and destemmed into these vessels, with about 10% of stalks», explains Ioli. After separation from the skins, the wine rests for another five months in amphora before being bottled.

The encounter between wine and travel

At a certain point, the turning point arrives: Maria Elena Dioguardi lands in Valtellina on board her 1990s Mini Cooper, in search of stories to be discovered in a glass of Alpine nebbiolo. During an event where Gian Piero presents his wines, the two meet and discover that they share the same passion for wine and for travelling.
Maria Elena recounts: «In 2022, while wandering around Italy, we stopped in Umbria: there the idea was born to create an itinerant wine, a wine that tells the journey. We found a vineyard from 1955 in the village of Bevagna, where the owner cultivated no less than 11 varieties from which he obtained a single wine. After speaking with him, we decided to manage the vineyard for that year, giving life to a red wine with six varietals and an orange wine with five».

From this meeting was born a completely new wine project, entitled “Numero” (we will soon discover why). Maria Elena and Gian Piero work practically as garagistes, because almost never does the vineyard owner have a winery. They rely on a local cellar where they set up ogival amphorae made of Impruneta clay, ergonomic and easy to transport.

From Umbria to Sicily

From the ʼ22 harvest in Umbria, two thousand bottles were produced, then the two partners in wine moved to Sicily. Both are passionate about the sea: the next stop thus became Marsala, iconic centre of Trapani’s viticulture.
«The classic interpretation of grillo grapes did not convince us – says Maria Elena – always too aromatic, too rich in sugar and alcohol. We found vineyards in Contrada Spagnola that stretch right up to the salt pans and relied on a very large cellar in the area. This time no amphorae, given the heat of mid-August: we carried out vinification in a large cement vat buried in the ground. Thanks to the size of the vat, from the 2023 harvest we obtained about eight thousand bottles».

The arrival on Etna

Having experimented in western Sicily, the next stage of this nomadic winemaking journey could only be Etna.
«To make a vinification in Sicily and then leave immediately seemed premature. For us it represents a magnet. It is a very different island: in Trapani and Marsala you have contact with salt, on Etna you have contact with minerality. Etna is another Sicily», explains Maria Elena.

The two therefore moved to Adrano, on the eastern side of the volcano, the less frequented and less known one, for the 2024 harvest: there they produced a white wine based on carricante, grecanico dorato and recunu, and a red with nerello cappuccio, nerello mascalese and grenache.

Next stop: Pantelleria

But soon they will set off again: destination Pantelleria to prepare the 2025 harvest.
«It may be the opportunity to close the Sicilian chapter, but we still don’t know», admits Gian Piero. «We found two uncultivated vineyards in the Khamma area, located on the eastern side of the island: the idea is to make a dry wine from zibibbo grapes. And perhaps also a few bottles of passito, to try it out with friends».

The initiative is becoming increasingly adventurous: «There are several dammusi but they are not suitable for vinification. At harvest time, when the heat is at its peak, a cool environment is necessary. We are still looking for a support cellar. But – jokes Gian Piero – we are also scouting the coast in search of some hollow in the sea where we could vinify».

A name, a “Numero”

With their freestyle life and unscripted wines, Gian Piero and Maria Elena are writing a story never written before: that of wandering natural wine. But this wine, which has the anarchic spirit of art, also needed a face, a symbol, a signature. The lightning strike came from a 1969 drawing by Gianni Secomandi, artist of the historic Galleria Numero, founded by art dealer and collector Fiamma Vigo in the 1950s. From there the name of the project was born: “Numero” as the original, the unique, the unrepeatable.

The labels of the wines made in Bevagna and Marsala are instead inspired by the poetic lines of Kengiro Azuma, Japanese artist, another free spirit of the 1960s. The author of the label of the Etnean wine is instead Paolo Barlascini, a painter from Valtellina who lives and works in Berlin: the drawing represents two astronauts – Maria Elena and Gian Piero – on a lunar landscape (that of Etna), immersed in smoke (from the volcano).

The dream of Etna bubbles

The journey of the project does not stop.
«We want to learn more and more, not only in the art of winemaking, but also in the precious universe of human relations: to let ourselves be inspired by encounters, by people’s stories, by their customs and traditions. With us we carry our way of making wine, giving life to an exchange of ideas and emotions», continues Ioli.

And here is the dream in the drawer: «Etna has an irresistible charm and we are letting ourselves be seduced by the idea of creating a sparkling wine. We would like to rediscover and honour the ancient history of Etna’s Champagne, that of Baron Spitaleri». The chosen vineyards are those of Alfredo Tomasello and Tino Biancato, custodians of the Etnean land.

«With Alfredo a deep bond has been created, an authentic friendship: he will restore an ancient palmento, and I will devote myself to its renewed architecture. Thanks also to Maria Elena and me, Alfredo has rediscovered the beauty of his vineyards. Perhaps, after this new experiment, he will feel the desire to bring his company back to life with new energy».

Thus, the wandering winery may make a longer stop on Etna. Because wine is the art of encounter. And encounter creates roots and bonds even for the nomads of wine.