2020 Furlani Macerato

Region: Trentino-Alto-Adige < Italy

Grapes: Pinot Grigio

Vineyard/Cellar Stats: Organic/biodynamic farming; soils: clay over schist and broken granite, known as sasso dolomitico; 15 days skin maceration then fermented in stainless steel, fermented wine left outside in the snow over the winter to clarify; frozen must added in the Spring before re-fermentation in bottle; bottled under crown cap, with no added sulfur and no disgorgement; 11.5% ABV

Winemaker: Danilo Marcucci and Matteo Furlani

NEW VINTAGE!  By now you know that we're obsessed with all things made by the Italian wine whisperer, Danilo Marcucci.  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, mostly frizzante, mountain wines that are so reflective of that place.  Last summer we were fortunate to visit Matteo at his estate way up the mountains, where he farms grapes on seriously steep slopes, along with cherries and apples.  We tried, and fell in love with, the whole lineup of wines, and now we fight to get allocations of his tiny-production, highly sought after, fizzy wines.

Like his new(ish) Macerato, a gorgeous orange alpine fizz bomb that is 100% Pinot Grigio with 10-15 days on the skins before undergoing fermentation in the ancestral method.  It looks like a fluffy cloud at sunset, and tastes like a mashup of sour gummy peaches and pink lemonade, with jolts of tart rhubarb and apple skin, grapefruit zest and crunchy mineral right angles.  One sip and we're transported to a pristine meadow in the Italian Alps, skipping around like a tipsy Heidi.  

SERVING NOTE: freeze for 60 minutes before opening, carefully, over a sink.  These guys can be explosive upon popping.