Corvée (Trentino, Cembra Valley)

Trento DOC, Reds, and Whites

Vertical winemaking. I guess that's what we should call it here. 

It's not so much that that we're in a mountainous region, in the north of Italy, it's how steep it all is. From 250m to 1000m above sea level, vineyards are planted in the Cembra Valley on terraces that are supported by dry stone walls built from the local stone--porphyry. The heritage of these walls is evident everywhere, and there are over 700km of them throughout the valley. Whether you're a wine lover or not, you won't believe them til you see them.

Thinking about the time and human effort it took to build those things is mind-boggling, but unfortunately was also filled with human exploitation. Wealthy landowners, who already paid their sharecropper farmers a pittance, required that on their one day off per week, they spend that time as a "free day", building the walls and crafting the terraces. That "free day" became known as "Corvée"--giving your one day off as free labor. 

The affable and smooth Mario Esposito (more like a race car driver's name), along with three partners all around the mountain village of Lisignano, have carefully put together a 14 hectare vineyard estate over the past 10 years. They began the project while all still working day jobs, and did it all in their "free" time so to speak. Their collection of vines, all on 40% grade slopes, and all with porphyritic terraces, is simply fantastic.

In the bottle, there are no weak spots. When we met for the first time last Spring, I was amazed at the clean precision of every wine--mountain freshness through and through.

Corvàia Pinot Grigio 2020

Pinot Grigio is the most well known grape of northern Italy and we've looked for years to find the right one. Finally, here it is! It shows a light and bright yellow color, and a perfumed bouquet of pear, peach and incense. On the palate the taste is rich and with a pleasant acidity and persistence, which represent the distinctive features of this rare "small scale" Pinot Grigio of great freshness and drinkability.