FARNEA
L’Arietta 2021
Veneto, Italy
Named after the wind that cools the valley he calls home, this is a refreshingly original take on Merlot. Fermented on skins for a month and aged in large old casks for eighteen months it is all plums, earth, herbs and brine. Its savoury nature screams for some wild mushrooms or a nice piece of meat on the grill.
Merlot
ABOUT THE PRODUCER
Marco Buratti’s Farnea occupies a particularly beautiful part of the Colli Euganei National Park.
The land here has been planted with grapes since the eighteenth century, when the vignaioli of old were drawn to the area’s volcanic soils. Marco began with around one and half hectares of vines and three hectares of woodland in the hills above his cottage and has since acquired a further hectare of vines in nearby Bettone, where he also keeps pigs, chickens and sheep, eking out a simple life on the land.
Marco’s vines are worked by hand without the use of chemicals, a way of working he had decided on before beginning in 2003. The cantina consists of a small room at the edge of Marco’s house strewn with various vessels and simple winemaking tools. Along with healthy grapes, these are all Marco uses to make his wines, and there is nothing added at any stage.
Brimming with energy, Marco’s are amongst the most vibrant wines we have found in Italy and once opened, a bottle does not last long.