I would say that my life is split into two distinct periods. The first, in Trentino, where vineyards and wine were part of my life, even as a child. In fact, as soon as I was old enough, I started to follow my father, a sensitive farmer. He taught me that the countryside is a place of freedom. It was to pursue this freedom that I studied viticulture and oenology. I started out on Elisabetta Foradori’s estate with the 2000 grape harvest, getting my hands dirty with none other than Teroldego.
Then, driven by the desire to challenge myself with other experiences, I moved to a large winery in Friuli, where the tanks were so large that they looked like something out of a sci-fi movie. I soon realized that I was made for the small barrel and accepted Elisabetta’s invitation to come to Ampeleia to take care of the first grape harvest. Accepting this invitation led me to the second period, which is now. A now that has lasted for a good few years. A few months, I thought. But I’ve now been here for almost twenty years.
First as wine technician and then as winemaker, today also as company manager. However, throughout these years I have never lost my desire to explore, and once in a while I sneak away from Ampeleia’s vineyards for a quick work trip to Argentina or Bordeaux.
For me, the field is not just the place in which I work, but it was and still is the environment in which I trained, also through comparison with other producers.
Ampeleia is more of a life’s journey than a career path. An experience that has opened scenarios, possibilities, encounters, and continues to do so. If I think of the conversion to biodynamics, I realize how it changed the way I see things, and not just in relation to agriculture.
Roccatederighi is now my home. Right from the start the people made me feel like a native, to stay on theme. Even its places remind me of my mountain roots, although today I consider myself a man of the Upper Maremma. Over these years I have learned to know the territory and by exploration realized its potential; my agricultural choices are guided by the desire to bring out this potential with increasing clarity.
I am giving my all to Ampeleia, but she is giving me back even more.
