Vivit 2014 @ Vinitaly

Vivit is the fair in the fair.
Vinitaly the most biggest wine fair in Italy. Inside it there is a space dedicated to the production of natural wine around the world.
This year I spend a couple days inside there and I did find really interesting wine and confirmed my self with some wine I really loved previously.
I' ll focus this post on the producer where present at the exhibition:
Eric Texier is a small vigneron based in Brèzème a small appellation in the northern Rhone below further south of Cornas. It is a great charming man talking with him was a great pleasure and I love the pure expression of the grapes and the Terroir his wine showing.
We talk about the oldest producer of Rhone Valley peoples like Raymond Trollat in S. joseph, Marie Gentaz in Cote Rotie and Noel Verset in Cornas; unfortunately this are producer not long any more in the market they retired and I'm chasing them to try. Talking with Texier i understood how important they are and how this kind of old school wine making inspiring his wine production.
The cuvee St. Julien en St. Alban from 2011 was quite aromatic and lively, balck cherry with some peppery nose. Tangy minerality mostly granitic and charcoal. Palate sour and structure but finesse and elegance support by a beautiful acidity.
This cru is on the opposite side of Brèzème with vines older than 60 years; there is no add So2.
The Cotes du Rhone "Chat fou" from 2012 was a bit restrained with soft texture. Floral and soft acidity.
The Brèzème 2012 was my personal choice, tar, flinty and crush rocks minerality. Along dark and blue fruit with farmyard and wet earth and mushroom character. Very long persistence with no presence of oak.
Texier doesn't use barrel only concrete tanks.
Santa Caterina 
Colli di Luni district in Liguria. Winery "Azienda Santa Caterina". The vineyard facing the sea breeze on calcareous and red clay soil. 8 hectares to make olive oil and Vermentino, Albarola, Merla, Sangiovese and Merlot grapes.
Talking with the producer was a very good pleasure. I understood the reason why in Italy many producer grow this international varieties such a Merlot and Cabernet rather than invest in native grapes from the beauties of the Italian peninsula. The reason is this vineyard based on international grapes varieties are old vines, and any producer want to get rid such a gem of this calibre.
However Santa Caterina works with both grapes autochthonous and international varieties with reasonable ancient technique of wine making, copper and sulphur, cover crops following by the moon phase.
The whites are mineral with salty perception, sapid, tight and expressive… Long aging and never to heavy.
The red are daily drinking, focus on freshness and of course with some aging possibility.
I love this pure expression of soil.

Vasja Cotar
In the Carso district in Slovenia Branko & Vasja Cotar make some incredible wines without any chemical component. Malvasia Istriana, Terrano and Vitvoska are the main grapes varieties. The whites are macerated in contact with the skin as red wine making, thus they got grips and sourness in the palate. The Malvasia Istriana it is very perfume and aromatic, this wines are pure and a bit funky; they really respect the friendly attitude of Mr Vasja Cotar.
Talknig with Vasja, he told me the structure of his vineyard, on the top soil there is thin layer of red earth and limestone with lots of iron and fossilized sea life; that give lots of mineral content to his wines. Also told me is aim on the pruning to reaching one bottle of wine per plant. Simple guyot training system with a density of 7300 plants per hectare.
At Vivit i did tried the sparkling version of Malvasia Istriana in a orange wine style and the Terrano style, very funky and greats summer wine from my cured meat platter.
Cotar Bela
Giotto Bini his an artisan in Pantelleria a small island in the south of Sicily. This island is famous for cappers and the wines of Serragghia. Giotto it is a very charming person with great passion from his land:
I did loved this wine called Serragghia Fanino made with Pignatello and Catarrato a white and a red varieties. So good, fragrant, crunchy and mineral. I had a reminiscent of Poulsard and a Bonnes Mares. I love this guy.
Serragghia Fanino
Dominik Hubre of  Terroir al Limit Terroir al Limit in the Priorat district in Catalunya Spain. Terrace vineyards, high altitude with slate soil called licorella.

Reductive wines full of slate character and tar, acid structure with powerful due to the diurnal temperature range, a great exchange through days and nights.
Dominik in his project working only with old vines. Aging has been done in inert tanks and large foudres. The wines are made in a natural way and managed in biodinamic.









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