I’ll put this plainly: This is an important wine. To me, it represents not just the evolution of a great producer’s signature style but the elevation of a relatively obscure, indigenous Italian grape variety—Teroldego—to “noble” status.
Elisabetta Foradori’s winery sits in the shadow of the Dolomites on the Campo Rotaliano, a flood plain along the Adige River in Trentino. Her red wines from Teroldego, grown in gravel, clay, and sand in the village of Mezzolombardo, have long been the standard-setters for this grape and place. Of course, Teroldego is rarely seen outside Trentino—a small, northern region better known for Pinot Grigio—and even within Trentino there aren’t lots of Teroldego comparables. Many producers in Trentino and neighboring Alto Adige gravitated to Bordeaux varieties in search of more commercial viability, but Foradori and a handful of others stuck with Teroldego. It is unique. It is local. And as studies Elisabetta has been actively involved in confirmed, it is of noble lineage—DNA sequencing has shown it to be a relative of both Syrah and Pinot Noir. For as long as I can remember, Foradori’s “Granato” was the ultimate expression of the variety: a wine-list staple and a reliably rich, inky, aromatic red whose concentration seemed to defy its mountain-cooled origins. Today’s single-vineyard wine from the 2013 vintage, called “Morei,” is an evolution—a red of exceptional refinement, focused power, and dimension. Italy is chock full of tasty curiosities crafted from hyper-local grapes, but this is something else: a world-class red wine with the structure and aromatic complexity of great red Burgundy. There’s a difference, and I implore you to taste it.
Those of you who’ve subscribed for a while know this isn’t our first go-round with Foradori. We’ve offered just about everything Elisabetta makes at one point or another. She is an Italian wine icon who has worked the same plot of land since the premature passing of her father when she was just a middle schooler. By the late-1990s and early aughts she was a bona-fide commercial and critical success, but rather than settle into a comfortable routine, she effectively blew it all up and charted a new course—one focused on making the most natural expressions of her native varieties as possible. It started with the conversion to organic and biodynamic viticulture and continued in the cellar, where she has gravitated to the “minimal input” philosophy that characterizes the best natural wines.
“Morei” is one of two single-vineyard expressions of Teroldego Elisabetta vinifies in custom-made clay amphorae (called tinajas) from Spain. This is as elemental as winemaking gets: the crushed grapes go into the tinaja and ferment/age on their skins for 8 months before being moved to used French oak barrels for further aging. Many producers have embraced clay (and concrete) because of its porousness (allowing subtle oxygen exchange) but also its lack of reactivity in comparison to stainless steel. While “Morei” is fresh and lively, with a firm backbone, it also has a well-rounded, velvety texture—a quality I attribute to the tinajas.
In comparison to Elisabetta’s other single-vineyard bottling, called “Sgarzon” (which we’ve also offered here), “Morei” comes from a 2.5-hectare site with a higher percentage of clay mixed with gravel (the Sgarzon site is sandier). To my palate, it’s the most ‘Burgundian” expression of Teroldego I’ve ever encountered, a departure from the more Syrah-like personality I’ve always ascribed to the variety. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised: DNA analysis has confirmed that Teroldego is a sibling of Dureza, itself one of the “parents” of Syrah; it’s also been shown that Dureza (and therefore Teroldego) is descended from Pinot Noir. It’s a complicated, but extremely prestigious, family tree.
In the glass, the 2013 “Morei” is a vibrant, dark purple-ruby (here it bears more of a resemblance to Syrah), with a beautifully perfumed nose of pomegranate, black raspberry, goji berry, wild strawberry, black tea, lavender, underbrush, and crushed black rocks. Medium-bodied and deeply mineral, it is alternatively fruity and deeply mineral on the palate, still firm and focused and in need of air: Decant it about an hour before serving in large Burgundy stems at 60-65 degrees, at which point you will marvel at its fine-grained, almost velvety texture and long, aromatic finish. It may look like Syrah but it behaves more like Premier, even Grand Cru Burgundy. It is just now starting to enter its drinking window, but will easily age another 10 years if kept well. It is a serious wine, plain and simple, with a slightly feral, char-broiled edge to it that makes me want something similar on the food side to go with it. Try the attached recipe for marinated/grilled leg of lamb, and prepare for fireworks. I can’t wait to try it myself! Cheers!
