Frederico Orsi, Vigneto San Vito ‘Posca’ Rosso NV
Location: Italy, Emilia-Romagna
Winemaker: Federico Orsi
Grapes: Pignoletto
Soil: Clay, limestone
Winemkaing: Organic farming. Spontaneous fermentations in various vessels (botti, cement, qveri, stainless steel) with variable amount of skin contact. Whenever a batch is bottled, wine from each vessel is added to the perpetual tank, creating an ever-evolving, multi-vintage blend. S02 use depends highly on the sanitary state of the grapes. Some years none will be added, others other a couple grams per hectoliter will be added on the harvest, other times at bottling.
The Posca project began as a simple farm wine you could come refill at the Bologna market. But then something happened:
“At a certain point, I finished most of the 2008 and just decided to fill the tank with some 2009. We still had some 2009 by the time the 2010 was ready, and I started blending again. By 2011 this became an intentional pattern and I became a fan of the results. I started looking into vino perpetuo, which turned out to be an ancient technique practiced by some contemporaries, for example Francesco Guccione in Sicily. The wines have become so good to me that we decided to start bottling it.”
Because the wine is a multi-vintageperpetual wine, Federico marks the bottling date on the back of each bottle.
A Posca was the daily ration of wine accorded to Roman soldiers.
From the Importer Louis Dressner: Federico Orsi was born in Bologna, but grew up in Brazil. After returning to Italy in his late teens to study business, he began working as a consultant while planning to earn his MBA. Though poised for the corporate life, the sale of a local Bolognese winery would forever change the course of his life.
In 2005, the Azienda Agricola San Vito was put up for sale. Having heard the news, Federico, who'd developed a passion for wine in his early 20's, jokingly proposed buying it to his family. Much to his surprise, they were overwhelmingly supportive! Skeptical at first, Federico eventually agreed to purchase the estateon the condition that it would be resold if he could not make it work financially after five years.
With no knowledge of viticulture or winemaking, Federico hit the books and eventually came across the philosophy of biodynamic farming. This holistic approach deeply inspired him, and with the knowledge acquired through numerous meetings with biodynamicfarmers, the estate was converted from its first year under new ownership. Minimal intervention winemaking soon followed, and by 2009 the wines were all vinified with native yeasts, un-fined, unfiltered and only lightly sulfured at bottling.
The estate, located 30 minutes from Bologna in the town of Monteveglio, consists of 9.5 hectares of land, with an additional 5.5 hectares rented. Seven of those are planted in the indigenous white grape Pignoletto, which mostly produce "Sui Lieviti", a traditional bottle refermented sparkler. 1.6 hectares of old vine Pignoletto planted on a steep slope produce the single vineyard bottling "Vigna del Grotto", an elegant, age-worthy white fermented in large Slavonian botti.
2.5 hectares of mixed white grapes get blended into the "Posca Bianca" cuvée: Alionza, Albana, Malvasia, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling. Finally, two hectares of red are planted in Negretto and Cabernet Sauvignon, with another hectare of Barbera.
"Sui Lieviti", "Vigna del Grotto" and "Martignone" are vintaged, while the "Posca Bianca" and "Posca Rossa" are made in a "vino perpetuo" style, which entails bottling small amounts of a multi-vintagetank, then adding the current vintage wine to it, thus continuing a never-ending, always evolving blend. While non-vintaged,each Posca bottle is hand stamped with the bottling date of its respective batch.
Location: Italy, Emilia-Romagna
Winemaker: Federico Orsi
Grapes: Pignoletto
Soil: Clay, limestone
Winemkaing: Organic farming. Spontaneous fermentations in various vessels (botti, cement, qveri, stainless steel) with variable amount of skin contact. Whenever a batch is bottled, wine from each vessel is added to the perpetual tank, creating an ever-evolving, multi-vintage blend. S02 use depends highly on the sanitary state of the grapes. Some years none will be added, others other a couple grams per hectoliter will be added on the harvest, other times at bottling.
The Posca project began as a simple farm wine you could come refill at the Bologna market. But then something happened:
“At a certain point, I finished most of the 2008 and just decided to fill the tank with some 2009. We still had some 2009 by the time the 2010 was ready, and I started blending again. By 2011 this became an intentional pattern and I became a fan of the results. I started looking into vino perpetuo, which turned out to be an ancient technique practiced by some contemporaries, for example Francesco Guccione in Sicily. The wines have become so good to me that we decided to start bottling it.”
Because the wine is a multi-vintageperpetual wine, Federico marks the bottling date on the back of each bottle.
A Posca was the daily ration of wine accorded to Roman soldiers.
From the Importer Louis Dressner: Federico Orsi was born in Bologna, but grew up in Brazil. After returning to Italy in his late teens to study business, he began working as a consultant while planning to earn his MBA. Though poised for the corporate life, the sale of a local Bolognese winery would forever change the course of his life.
In 2005, the Azienda Agricola San Vito was put up for sale. Having heard the news, Federico, who'd developed a passion for wine in his early 20's, jokingly proposed buying it to his family. Much to his surprise, they were overwhelmingly supportive! Skeptical at first, Federico eventually agreed to purchase the estateon the condition that it would be resold if he could not make it work financially after five years.
With no knowledge of viticulture or winemaking, Federico hit the books and eventually came across the philosophy of biodynamic farming. This holistic approach deeply inspired him, and with the knowledge acquired through numerous meetings with biodynamicfarmers, the estate was converted from its first year under new ownership. Minimal intervention winemaking soon followed, and by 2009 the wines were all vinified with native yeasts, un-fined, unfiltered and only lightly sulfured at bottling.
The estate, located 30 minutes from Bologna in the town of Monteveglio, consists of 9.5 hectares of land, with an additional 5.5 hectares rented. Seven of those are planted in the indigenous white grape Pignoletto, which mostly produce "Sui Lieviti", a traditional bottle refermented sparkler. 1.6 hectares of old vine Pignoletto planted on a steep slope produce the single vineyard bottling "Vigna del Grotto", an elegant, age-worthy white fermented in large Slavonian botti.
2.5 hectares of mixed white grapes get blended into the "Posca Bianca" cuvée: Alionza, Albana, Malvasia, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling. Finally, two hectares of red are planted in Negretto and Cabernet Sauvignon, with another hectare of Barbera.
"Sui Lieviti", "Vigna del Grotto" and "Martignone" are vintaged, while the "Posca Bianca" and "Posca Rossa" are made in a "vino perpetuo" style, which entails bottling small amounts of a multi-vintagetank, then adding the current vintage wine to it, thus continuing a never-ending, always evolving blend. While non-vintaged,each Posca bottle is hand stamped with the bottling date of its respective batch.
Location: Italy, Emilia-Romagna
Winemaker: Federico Orsi
Grapes: Pignoletto
Soil: Clay, limestone
Winemkaing: Organic farming. Spontaneous fermentations in various vessels (botti, cement, qveri, stainless steel) with variable amount of skin contact. Whenever a batch is bottled, wine from each vessel is added to the perpetual tank, creating an ever-evolving, multi-vintage blend. S02 use depends highly on the sanitary state of the grapes. Some years none will be added, others other a couple grams per hectoliter will be added on the harvest, other times at bottling.
The Posca project began as a simple farm wine you could come refill at the Bologna market. But then something happened:
“At a certain point, I finished most of the 2008 and just decided to fill the tank with some 2009. We still had some 2009 by the time the 2010 was ready, and I started blending again. By 2011 this became an intentional pattern and I became a fan of the results. I started looking into vino perpetuo, which turned out to be an ancient technique practiced by some contemporaries, for example Francesco Guccione in Sicily. The wines have become so good to me that we decided to start bottling it.”
Because the wine is a multi-vintageperpetual wine, Federico marks the bottling date on the back of each bottle.
A Posca was the daily ration of wine accorded to Roman soldiers.
From the Importer Louis Dressner: Federico Orsi was born in Bologna, but grew up in Brazil. After returning to Italy in his late teens to study business, he began working as a consultant while planning to earn his MBA. Though poised for the corporate life, the sale of a local Bolognese winery would forever change the course of his life.
In 2005, the Azienda Agricola San Vito was put up for sale. Having heard the news, Federico, who'd developed a passion for wine in his early 20's, jokingly proposed buying it to his family. Much to his surprise, they were overwhelmingly supportive! Skeptical at first, Federico eventually agreed to purchase the estateon the condition that it would be resold if he could not make it work financially after five years.
With no knowledge of viticulture or winemaking, Federico hit the books and eventually came across the philosophy of biodynamic farming. This holistic approach deeply inspired him, and with the knowledge acquired through numerous meetings with biodynamicfarmers, the estate was converted from its first year under new ownership. Minimal intervention winemaking soon followed, and by 2009 the wines were all vinified with native yeasts, un-fined, unfiltered and only lightly sulfured at bottling.
The estate, located 30 minutes from Bologna in the town of Monteveglio, consists of 9.5 hectares of land, with an additional 5.5 hectares rented. Seven of those are planted in the indigenous white grape Pignoletto, which mostly produce "Sui Lieviti", a traditional bottle refermented sparkler. 1.6 hectares of old vine Pignoletto planted on a steep slope produce the single vineyard bottling "Vigna del Grotto", an elegant, age-worthy white fermented in large Slavonian botti.
2.5 hectares of mixed white grapes get blended into the "Posca Bianca" cuvée: Alionza, Albana, Malvasia, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling. Finally, two hectares of red are planted in Negretto and Cabernet Sauvignon, with another hectare of Barbera.
"Sui Lieviti", "Vigna del Grotto" and "Martignone" are vintaged, while the "Posca Bianca" and "Posca Rossa" are made in a "vino perpetuo" style, which entails bottling small amounts of a multi-vintagetank, then adding the current vintage wine to it, thus continuing a never-ending, always evolving blend. While non-vintaged,each Posca bottle is hand stamped with the bottling date of its respective batch.