2017 Furlani 'Negrik' Rosso Alpino

Price: $22
Region: Trentino-Alto-Adige < Italy
Grapes: Field blend of native Dolomite grapes
Vineyard/Cellar Stats: Biodynamic farming, clay over schist and broken granite, known as sasso dolomitico, 700m altitude, pergola trained for ventilation, fermented in cement tanks and small glass demijohns, fermented wine left outside in the snow over the winter to clarify; bottled unfined/unfiltered with zero-added So2; 12% ABV
Winemaker: Danilo Marcucci and Matteo Furlani

We featured the Italian wine whisperer, Danilo Marcucci, last month with his own wine, Vini Conestabile della Staffa.  Danilo originally got his start in winemaking as a mentee of the old guard of natural winemakers throughout Italy – Maule, Capellano, just to name a couple. After consulting up and down the boot, he met his wife, and transformed her family’s unloved vineyards into the esteemed estate it is today. But, when he first started, he was working only with unknown, unproven small producers already working organically, and Furlani was his first target.  Though the estate is tiny, just 3 hectares of land scattered high in the hills above Trento, at the incredible altitude of 700-720m., he knew the bones were good and that he could help coax the vines into producing something special.  Working with 4th generation “custodian of the vineyards” Matteo Furlani, Danilo brings his zero-intervention philosophy to the biodynamic Cantina Furlani to make a cool line-up of tiny-production mountain wines that are so reflective of that place.  Like this super fresh, juicy red, a field blend of unknown local varieties, that is undeniably alpine juice.  Light-bodied yet satisfying with crunchy red fruit, it is the perfect après-ski red, best enjoyed slightly chilled, preferably in a hot tub under the softly falling snow.  Or enjoying while imagining yourself in said hot tub.