Sgarzon Teroldego Vigneti delle Dolomiti IGT 2017

A cool, austere Teroldego with wild fruit and an earthy core. The nose leans towards earth and stone, joined by undergrowth, red berry juice, dried herbs, sloe, barberry and a touch of juniper and elderberry. Nothing warm, nothing sweet: a rocky, clear-cut wine at 12.0% vol.

The Sgarzon vineyard, whose name means "vine shoot" in the Trentino dialect, lies in the Campo Rotaliano near Mezzolombardo: 2.5 hectares of alluvial land with a sandy topsoil. The plot lies open, barely sheltered from cold winds, so the grapes ripen correspondingly late. Over the millennia, the Noce river has deposited limestone, porphyry and gneiss from the Dolomites here. By day the rock walls reflect the sun's heat, while at night cool mountain air flows through the valley floor.

Teroldego, the variety Elisabetta Foradori began reviving in 1984 through meticulous clonal selection, working together with the University of Milan and the San Michele research centre. Eight months of skin contact in tinajas, 420-litre Spanish cellar amphorae. In spring 2018 the wine was racked into concrete tanks, where it came together over the summer. Winemaking has been overseen since 2013 by her son, Emilio.

Earthy and stony, with the fine, fired-clay-like texture imparted by the amphora. The youthful, assertive acidity carries sour cherry, dark plum and a touch more sloe, lending juiciness and freshness. The finish shows a fine salinity that keeps the drinkability going.

With almond rice with figs and dates, with seafood stew with fennel, tomatoes and stelline, or with lamb biryani with fresh coriander and lime.

Foradori farms 28 hectares under Demeter certification, 80 percent of it planted to Teroldego; the Demeter logo appears on the label. The move to clay came from the realisation that oak was overshadowing the character of Teroldego.