W&F Celebration, July 26 - 28, 2019

Volcanic Wines to taste

Volcanic wines are hot, literally. It’s no secret that Mount Etna in Sicily, the Canary Islands and the Yamanashi region near Mount Fuji are all home to some of the world’s most diverse and exciting wines, which is why one of the leading authorities on volcanic wines is coming to be part of our W&F Celebration.

We asked John Szabo a few questions: 

What triggered your interest in volcanic wine regions?  'It was a paragraph on “my favourite wine” for a holiday issue. All of the good favourites (Champagne, Burgundy, Barolo, etc..) had already been taken, so I started to consider lesser-known wines. I had recently been to places like Santorini, Etna, and northern Hungary, where I had found some fascinating, original wines. It suddenly dawned on me that these far-flung regions were all linked by the volcanic origins of their soils. So that was it! 

'My favourite wine grew on a volcano. That paragraph later became a full-length article, which, many years later, become a book and lifelong fascination.'

What are the three wine regions that best represent the volcanic wine movement? 'Volcanic soils are not as easy to define as you might first think - there are plenty of regions with mixed soils, and others with soils that have only a tenuous connection to volcanic activity. The flagships would be the places where no one questions the volcanic-ness of the area: Santorini, Etna, and the Canary Islands. Erupting Mount Etna makes for a great poster...'

John Szabo was the first Canadian to gain MS Master Sommelier and is the author of Volcanic Wines, Salt Grit and Power. John will lead wine tastings on Saturday 27 July at 3 pm and Sunday 28 July at 4.30 pm.