JACOPO STIGLIANO
Buriana 2021 [1.5L]
Emilia-Romagna, Italy
In the Bolognese dialect, Buriana describes a sort of melting pot or beautiful chaos. The fruit here comes from two gorgeous old parcels hidden in the hills of Valsamoggia, one where the vines are over one hundred years old and another between thirty to sixty years old. They are planted over clay and limestone between two and three hundred metres above sea level. This is made up of over a dozen white grape varieties grown together, harvested together and fermented on the skins for a week, before being pressed to concrete vats for a year of rest. From a warmer vintage, this offers plenty of depth and complexity, with a pleasant density of fruit, neat tannins and complex notes of stone fruits, citrus, minerals and wildflowers. Bottled only in magnum, it unfurls beautifully with air.
Over a dozen white varieties
ABOUT THE PRODUCER
Jacopo farms around three hectares of ancient vineyards in Valsamoggia, a series of hills between Bologna and Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Originally from the province of Bologna, wine has been everything to Jacopo since a young age and after decades travelling the world he returned to Emilia in 2018. Seeking a return to his roots, upon consulting older growers in the region, he set about discovering and restoring abandoned old vineyards in the hope of bringing energy to the territory and shining a light on the work of the vignaioli of old.
Lined with trees, the vines are up to one hundred years of age and grow amongst woods and orchards, occasionally right up in the canopy. Harking back to a tradition of Italian agriculture celebrated in another age, they are home to over twenty varieties, making for a kind of open air library of grapes. Planted on hillsides between two hundred and three hundred metres above sea level, the soils are a mix of clay and limestone and littered with stones, lending the wines a pronounced minerality.
Jacopo’s work in the vineyards is focused on retaining this incredible diversity. He does everything by hand and does not work the soil, trying not to interfere with these complex ecosystems. He believes that diversity brings richness and complexity to both life and wine and that each variety is planted here brings a sense of harmony.
All grapes are harvested, fermented and aged together, paying respect to the Italian tradition of the field blend and in the cantina his work is simple and precise. Believing that wine is made in the vineyard, Jacopo eschews the use of technology and bottles his wines unfiltered, with nothing added at any stage.
His complex, nourishing wines offer fascinating expressions of vineyards which are truly unique.
Photo: Giulia Nutricati