JACOPO STIGLIANO
Lauv NV [1.5L]
Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Lauv means wolf in Bologna’s dialect, and there are plenty roaming the vineyards near here. This is a field blend of seven red varieties from a parcel of hundred year old vines, planted on hills of clay and limestone some two to three hundred metres above sea level. Three vintages were combined together due to the achingly low yields across each. Borrowing a technique that has been used since Roman times, Jacopo blended his young wine with older vintages in search of something greater than the sum of its parts. In this case, the 2022 vintage was fermented on the skins for a fortnight, pressed and added to a large concrete tank that contained the 2021 and 2020 vintages in order to bring to those wines a little more freshness, brightness and verve. A striking shade of ruby, it is deep and layered and full, with brambly fruit, earth and herbs combining to make a wine very much suited to the robust, regal cooking for which Emilia is so well known.
Barbera, Sangiovese, Negrettino & more
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