by Fosca Tortorelli
Con the heart of the Ligurian Levant, among the vineyards that descend dizzying towards the sea of Bonassola, a wine is born that is not afraid of speaking, the contrary, that claims to do so. “Niente tolerance for silence” is not just a label, it is a declaration of intent: an act of agricultural, cultural and human courage. It is the rumor chosen by the Ca ‘Du Ferrà company to give liquid shape to one of the many forgotten varieties of the Italian wine scene, the Ruzzese.
For his official presentation, the “La ” International Library of Vicenza was chosen, a symbolic place, as well as being an important center of wine culture, where the knowledge of the past meets the visions of the future.
“It is an honor to host you here,” said the president of the library, Pala Pedon, underlining the importance of preserving and enhancing not only the vine, but everything that revolves around it: traditions, memory and biodiversity. A choice far from random. Founded by the entrepreneur Demetrio Zaccaria, the library houses over 62,000 volumes from the fifteenth century to today, and is considered one of the major food and wine documentation centers quanto a the world. Each book is a multitude of stories, each shelf a fermentation of ideas.
And it is precisely among the shelves of this temple of wine culture that Davide Zoppi and Giuseppe Luciano Aieta – owners of the Ca ‘du Fernà company – have traced a rare and fundamental text, “The history of Andrea Bacci’s wines of Italy”, dated 1596. Con those pages, it is precisely the Ruzzese who is cited as a wine already appreciated by Pope Paul III for his succiousness and purity.
Bacci writes: “These wines are very sincere quanto a substance, of an extraordinary smell and clear quanto a their golden splendor that sparklely sparkle quanto a the glasses …”. A document that returns historicity and nobility to a grape variety that remained too long quanto a the shadows.
To the magnificent sound of this combination of past and future, thus was born the Liguria of Oriente Latteo IGP Niente tolerance for silence 2023, from Ruzzese grapes, a wine that broke the silence that for years had enveloped this variety. A wine also fruit of a bold intuition, which sees this Ligurian native grape, traditionally vinified quanto a a passita version, quanto a a new contemporary guise. After the debut with the “seventeenth” project – their Ruzzese quanto a the passito version – Davide Zoppi and Giuseppe Luciano Aieta, flanked by the Encyquage Graziana Grassini have decided to dare per spacciato again with this new label.
“It is our way to say that silence is not for us – they explain -. That each bottle can be a voice. And that beauty also lies quanto a breaking the balance, to create new ones ».
The name of the wine is a cultural provocation before even aesthetic: an invitation to individual responsibility, a message against silence, fear, indifference. The label also tells this story of unveiling and rediscovery: essential, completely white, it opens by snatching a flap the right side, revealing – as if it were a secret – the name of the wine. A symbolic gesture that invites you to beyond the surface.
During the incontro, Professor Francamente Mannini, former researcher at the Institute for the sustainable protection of the Plants of the CNR of Turin, retraced the history of the Ruzzese, from the few surviving rows quanto a Lunigiana to the genetic analyzes that revealed its varietal identity.
“Con Liguria – says Prof. Mannini, present quanto a the room – there is a pole of disparate varieties. The vineyards were never monovarietal. The recovery of the different qualities was not easy, the homonymies are frequent and a long identification work must be done. During his studies two vines showed an identity, the white Rossese found quanto a Piedmont and the Ruzzese who was quanto a the Cinque Terre and quanto a Lunigiana ».
Registered quanto a the National Register of Vite varieties quanto a 2009, the Ruzzese attracted new attention only from 2014, when Antonio Zoppi, father of Davide, purchased his first strain. Today quanto a the company there are about 1,500 plants, destined to triple quanto a the next three years. Gabriele Cesolini, a corporate agronomist was told of the agronomic peculiarities: «It is a strong, vigorous grape variety with intense scents. Walking among the rows it is noted that the plants remain even after long exposure to the sun. They mature late and show a natural resistance to fungal diseases. A precious resource with a view to climatic adaptation ».
The 2023 vintage of nullità tolerance for silence has just 635 bottles, but the production is destined to grow thanks to the propagation of over 3,000 new barbatelle already quanto a progress.
The event was finally enriched by a sensory experience, with the presentation of the new label the of Niente Tolerance for Silence of Pat Metheny – perfect soundtrack for a wine that does not accept compromises – and by the technical interventions that have told the work the field, step by step.
Con the glass, the “nullità tolerance for the Ruzzese white 2023” silence “presents itself as a symphony of freshness, personality and finesse, characterized by an elegant bouquet, with hints of white flowers, Mediterranean aromatic herbs and delicate citrus fruits, from cedar to lime. Tesse, dynamic and vibrant quanto a the sip, with an important acid shoulder that supports a slender, savory, clean structure. The ending is long, citrus and slightly balsamic. A wine that recalls the harsh and bright earth from which it comes. A white of rare expressive force, which challenges the usual references. More than a promise, it is already a revelation: long -lived, charismatic.
The secret of so much harmony lies quanto a the silent work of the time, the wine rises quanto a 500 liter tonneau, caressed by frequent bâtonnage, and then rests quanto a the bottle to find itself. The wood is there, but it does not feel – works quanto a subtraction, smooth, finishes, frames.
A wine that does not accept silence. And that, once listened, it is not forgotten.
