Packaged in a tall and slender 500-milliliter bottle, the Hauner 2019 Malvasia delle Lipari is a Sicilian classic. It shows a pretty golden color that shines from the glass. With a few swirls of the glass, it presents soft aromas of dried peach, honey, candied almond and jasmine. To the palate, the wine is not heavy or cloying. In fact, that bright acidity invites sip after sip.

Hauner's 2017 Malvasia delle Lipari (packaged in a 500-milliliter bottle) is a delicious wine to pair with almond cookies or some sort of sponge cake with orange reduction sauce. The great thing about this wine is that it's not too sweet, nor is it cloying or too sticky. The wine offers a level of sweetness that makes it possible to pair with a light dessert or with aged cheese such as an old cheddar. It unfolds slowly and seductively in the glass. Production is a solid 25,000 bottles.

The 2016 Malvasia Delle Lipari (packaged in a 500-milliliter bottle) is a forthcoming and beautifully intense dessert wine from a small satellite island off the northern coast of Sicily. The wine shows a dark golden color with radiant amber highlights. The bouquet is beautifully opulent and generous with candied orange peel, sweet almond paste, dried apricot and honey. In the mouth, this wine is silky, thick and beautifully rich. This really is something special. Malvasia delle Lipari is never a cloying or overdone dessert wine. Indeed, it is one of Italy's most elegant dessert wines.

The 2013 Malvasia delle Lipari (500 mililiter) is initially bashful but opens quickly to pronounced tones of peach, honey, ripe pear, passion fruit and dried sage. This low key dessert wine is graceful, feminine and nuanced in equal measure. Unlike the more robust and openly sweet dessert wines made in other parts of Sicily, Malvasia delle Lipari offers a subdued and elegant expression.

Hauner’s specialty is dessert wine and the 2011 Malvasia delle Lipari is a case in point. A blend of 95% Malvasia delle Lipari and 5% Corinto Nero (this this the traditional formula used in this denomination), this delicate dessert wine opens to a light golden color and brilliant luminosity. This wine is not in-your-face the way Passito di Pantelleria (made with fragrant Zibibbo grapes) is. Instead, it moves in small steps with tones of white flower, honey and Golden Delicious apple. Drink 2014-2019. Carlo Hauner (1927-1996) lived a dream common to us all. In the early 1960s, he vacationed on the verdant island of Salina in the Aeolian Archipelago off the northern coast of Sicily. He immediately fell in love with the enchanting, rustic surroundings and decided to leave northern Italy and live permanently on Salina. This legendary figure is credited with bringing winemaking legitimacy to Salina and the Malvasia delle Lipari appellation. Today, his son Carlo Hauner Jr. continues work at the winery with the same level of enthusiasm and dedication. Despite his tall frame, light eyes and blond hair, Carlo is the figure most identified with the wines of Salina. I had the chance to visit with him recently. We crisscrossed the island in his old Jeep (picking up hitchhikers along the way because that’s the custom on an island with poor public bus service) to scope out his favorite vineyard sites. Caper bushes grow between the cracks in the dry walls separating vineyard parcels and prickly pears line the perimeters. Clouds passed quickly overhead and the skies were dotted with sky-gliders who launch from the island’s tallest peaks. There is no exaggerating the beauty of this magical place. Importer: Empson USA, www.empsonusa.com