He first arrived in the Aeolian Islands in 1963, when tourism was making its first tentative appearances. After a few summer vacations (which grew longer each year), he moved to Salina in the 1970s. Always restless and curious, he was drawn to the cultivation of Malvasia, the grape that local farmers harvest in mid-September and let dry in the sun for a couple of weeks. According to the traditional method, the grapes are hung outdoors on racks during the day and brought back at sunset. Hauner thus learned local winemaking techniques and integrated them with the study of ancient and modern texts.

When he decided that his acquired knowledge and creativity could contribute to a wine once celebrated as the "nectar of the gods," he sought out plots of land left uncultivated by the massive emigration that brought thousands of Aeolians to Australia and the Americas. He managed to acquire about twenty hectares, which he cleared, restored to their ancient terraces, and revived as vineyards. He introduced several innovations: he dried the grapes on the vine and experimented with cooling techniques during fermentation. These small revolutions fascinated experts, starting with Veronelli, and brought Hauner's Malvasia to the tables of prestigious restaurants, first in Italy and then in France, the United States, Great Britain, Japan, and other countries. Hauner's new winery was founded in the 1980s in Lingua, a charming hamlet near Santa Marina Salina. The Aeolian-style building is equipped with a modern refrigeration system and steel barrels alongside wooden aging vats, with a total capacity of 1,200 hectoliters. The inauguration of the new cellar coincides with the ever-growing interest the reborn Malvasia is generating among critics, journalists, television crews, winemakers, producers, and simply connoisseurs of fine wines.

Visits to the winery and to the "Carlo Hauner character" became increasingly frequent, contributing to the worldwide fame of the Aeolian archipelago and the prestigious wine produced there. It was during these years that the company added Salina Bianco and Salina Rosso (medium-strength table wines) to its Malvasia line, along with Antonello, a fine-line wine aged in barrique. After Carlo Hauner's passing in February 1996, the company was energetically led by his son Carlo Junior, with the invaluable assistance of his wife Cristina and sons Andrea and Michele. Today, approximately 50,000 bottles of Malvasia are produced, divided into two versions: natural and passito.

The company also produces capers, those flavorful buds that the inventor of this glorious company first labeled with the words "Capers of Salina." The labels, both for the capers and the wines, feature the shapes and colors their creator loved so much: the Aeolian architecture, the colors of Salina's vegetation (called the Green Island by all tourist brochures), the reds and oranges of the moon and dawn, the black of the volcano, the blue of the sea. They are reproductions of his paintings.