’Sgarzon’ Anfora Cilindrica - Teroldego (19)

Teroldego | één van de twee single vineyard wijnen | 2,5ha | alluviaal zanderig terroir | vergist op Anfora voor 9 maanden met de schillen | daarna geperst en rijpt voor nog eens 12 maanden op een andere anfora (Cilinder vorm) | minimaal zwavel bij botteling | zacht en zeer verfijnd | pure rode wijn van Teroldego | enorme diepgang | grafiet | cassis | decanteren aanbevolen... Morei is altijd wat ronder en eerder op dronk, Sgarzon heeft soms wat meer tijd nodig! 

Foradori

Elisabetta Foradori de 'grande dame' van de Italiaanse 'vino naturali' leid haar familie wijngoed in de Italiaanse Dolomiti naar grote hoogte. Zij en haar overleden man Rainer Zierock 'redden' de blauwe Tereldogo druif van de ondergang. In haar Granato wijngaard vinden we nog oerklonen van deze spannende blauwe druif. Rond 2013 maken haar zonen Theo en Emilio hun intreden in het bedrijf en in 2018 doed ze zelf een stap terug en mag de nieuwe generatie hun gang gaan. Vanaf de oogst van 2016 proef je de invloed van Emilio als wijnmaker terug!  Na 35 jaar hard werken stort Elisabetta zich op een nieuw project, ze gaat kaas maken van de melk van haar eigen acht koeien. 

Review

The 2015 Teroldego Sgarzon Cilindrica is born in slightly cooler soils closer to the mountains with high mineral content. This wine shows the wild side of Teroldego with sharper edges and focused contours. The wine's aromatic presentation is direct and linear, with a long succession of aromas that start with black fruit and end with crushed stone or flint. In between, you get licorice, white pepper and camphor ash. The 2.6-hectare Sgarzon vineyard site gets less sun compared to Morei, and you feel that tightness in the mouth that should soften with time. My money is on this wine for the longest aging potential. The idea behind the Cilindrica series was to experiment with the use of amphorae as an aging vessel, not just a container for fermentation. The other wines made from the Sgarzon site are aged in wood and cement. But a small quantity of Sgarzon wine was taken aside after fermentation on the skins and placed in elongated, cylinder-shaped amphorae (cilindrica) to age for 12 months. The 2015 vintage only saw 350 bottles made, but this will increase to 2,000 bottles with the 2016 vintage.

The big news at this celebrated estate in Mezzolombardo is that Elisabetta Foradori has handed winemaking responsibilities over to her sons Emilio and Theo Zierock. I tasted these wines with Emilio at the winery. The 2017 vintage was very difficult, with bad weather and hail that destroyed much of the Teroldego harvest. As a result, the 2017 Teroldego Foradori and the 2017 Pinot Grigio Fuoripista were not produced. Because of the reduced harvest yields in 2017, a new wine called Lezèr was born. It is made with Teroldego and sees very short skin maceration times (a mere 48 hours) in order to safeguard the wine's crunchy freshness. The most exciting news from this estate is the launch of two single-vineyard expressions of Teroldego (Sgarzon and Morei) aged in long amphorae called cilindrica. 95/100 Monica Larner