2020 Marco Mosconi Bianco 'Bucce' BIO

Grape: Garganega + Trebbiano di Soave

Vineyard/Cellar Stats: Certified organic/biodynamic farming on alluvial soils; special pick of the best bunches of Garganega + Trebbiano di Soave. The grapes are pressed and placed in steel tanks together with their skins and left to ferment and macerate for seven months. During this period the wine is never decanted, fulled and reassembled. Nothing added during the production process, not even sulfur; bottling unfined/unfiltered, with zero added SO2; zero-zero; 12% ABV

Winemaker: Marco Mosconi

Marco and his wife Valentina farm their bucolic, organic estate in the eastern part of Valpolicella, in a valley surrounded by hills studded with vineyards, olive groves and cherry trees.  Their whole identity is centered around the flower of life, a symbol of harmony, vitality and fertility.  In 2019, they produced their first vintage of what he calls "vital, spontaneous and free wines" that spring from biodynamic farming practices in the vineyard.  In the cellar he "listens to" the grapes, and avoids interventions, because his goal is to preserve the "life forces of the original fruit during the grape-wine transformation process and to obtain a digestible drink that gives a sense of well-being".  Super woo woo, and we're totally into it.  It's a true family operation -- Elena, Marco’s sister, paints the labels in watercolor.

And what a gorgeous wine!  'Bucce' means skins, and this wine gets cozy with the grape skins for 7 months -- which is a long time and could turn the wine into a tannic orange beast.  But somehow, magically, this wine is light and ethereal, with no harsh tannins or astringent mouth feel.  Instead the fruit is vibrant, pretty, floral but not overly aromatic.  Lemon peel, orange peel, apples, pears, wet stone, fresh parsley. Mineral driven with great intensity.  Such a lovely fall wine to pair with all of the season's bounty (including that Thanksgiving feast), seafood/shellfish even.