Foradori Sgarzon Teroldego 2021 1500ml

Elisabetta Foradori was just a child when her father tragically and unexpectedly passed away. His estate that he had been lovingly tending and producing wine from, was held with a caretaker winemaker. But in just eight short years, Elisabetta had finished her Oenology degree and taken the reins as head winemaker. She was 20.

Situated in the Dolomites, in Italy’s far north, Elisabetta has grown to become one of the most respected producers in Italy and around the world. From those early days, she instinctively started working with organic principles – no chemical sprays, and all vineyard work carried out by hand –before she discovered the work of Rudolf Steiner and converted to fully certified Biodynamic practices by 2009.

One of the most important decisions Elisabetta made when she took over, was not to rip out the native Teroldego grape that was already planted, and replace it with a more commercially accepted variety. Many of her neighbours were already doing this when she took the helm, and told her she was crazy to keep growing a grape that no one had ever heard of. She stuck to her guns, and in fact, has almost single-handedly saved Teroldego from extinction.

While the main focus is on Teroldego, with cuvees such as Sgarzon, Morei and Granato, Elisabetta also produces several white wines too, using indigenous grapes such as Manzoni Bianco, Nosiola and her skin contact Pinot Grigio, Fuoripista.

Today her wines are very highly regarded, both for their delicious flavour, but also for the sustainable nature in which she produces them. They are natural wines, vinified through a combination of whole bunch carbonic maceration and fermentation in large ceramic vessels, called Tinajas, as well as large-format old oak, and cement tanks. All of the focus, though, is on the purity of fruit, and the expression of grape and site.

Elisabetta is still very much a daily presence and "the face" of the winery, though the main winemaking tasks are now undertaken by her children, Emilio, Theo and Myrtha. Under Elisabetta's guidance, the transition to a younger generation has been seamless, and indeed vital for the gradual evolution of the winery's style.