Today’s Story: Agricola Foradori
Agricola Foradori traces its roots back to 1901 when the winery was established, however it did not come into the Foradori family until 1939 when Vittorio Foradori purchased it. The winery became a family venture when Roberto Foradori joined in 1960, coincidentally the same year of the family’s first vintage. Years later, in 1976, Vittorio unfortunately passed away unexpectedly and his wife Gabriella Casna Foradori managed the winery until their daughter Elisabetta could graduate with her enology degree. In 1984, Elisabetta faced her first vintage as a 19 year old though she already had her heart set on propelling her family’s winery and the Teroldego variety to high standards. Over time Foradori remained a family endeavor, with Elisabetta’s son Emilio working his first vintage in 2012 and her son Theo joining in 2015. Elisabetta’s daughter Myrtha joined this year to garden vegetables on the estate as well as plan for farming and expansion over the years to come.
One of the most important changes at Foradori over time, in my opinion, is the change to biodynamic farming in 2002. Though Elisabetta’s primary goal when first taking over the winery was the survival of the winery itself, over time she realized the importance of caring for land in such delicate manner to allow natural cycles and processes proliferate. Her minimalistic intervention in the vineyards and winery allows the fruit to express itself transparently, producing wines that are ideal demonstrators of place. In the winery, Elisabetta lightly (if at all) guides the wines through fermentation where there is no temperature control and only indigenous yeasts are used. Fermentation also takes place in different containers than the aging process, varying from oak casks and open-top tanks to clay tinajas. No sulphites are added until after the first racking (typically 6-8 months after drawing from the skins) so no wine will have more than 30mg/L SO2. At bottling, all wines are unfiltered.
Winery Statistics (found on the Foradori website here):
“We harvest the grapes from vineyards covering 28 hectares – 70% of Teroldego, 20% of Manzoni Bianco, 5% of Nosiola and 5% of Pinot Grigio – to produce an average of 160,000 bottles per year: 50,000 of Foradori, 20,000 of Granato, 25,000 of Fontanasanta Manzoni Bianco, 10,000 of Fontanasanta Nosiola, 10,000 of Fuoripista Pinot Grigio and 12,000 for each of vineyards of Sgarzon and Morei and 25,000 bottles of Lezèr.”
I encourage you to discover more for yourself on the Foradori website, particularly the tabs regarding the region, portfolio of wines, and photo gallery.
Today’s Wine: 2016 Granato
100% Teroldego; 13% ABV
This wine is an opaque deep purple color almost black at its core. Due to its youth, this certainly required a long decant. Once it opens up, the nose showcases aromas of blackberry, blueberry, wild red berries, farm land, violet, tar, smokey minerality, and mint. In the mouth, the Granato shows notes of blueberry, pomegranate, cranberry, lavender, forest floor, black tea leaf, and slight baking spice (especially cinnamon). The wine is medium- to full-bodied with high acidity, medium tannins, and a long finish. I suggest giving this a few more years of bottle age before drinking and this will drink magnificently for at least a decade beyond that.
Price: $75 (though you can find this for $60 or less in Europe). I like the price point (particularly overseas this is a screaming value), particularly for its complexity, ageability, and palpable high quality. Pair this with beef, lamb, or meat/red sauce pasta.
JB's Wine Talk 