Summary
Azienda Agricola Foradori in Mezzolombardo is the best-known winery in Trentino – and one of the most influential in Italy. Elisabetta Foradori turned a regional bulk grape, Teroldego, into a wine of international standing: through years of selecting old vines, through the conversion to biodynamics and through ageing in clay amphorae. Around 29 hectares today yield reds with alpine freshness, herbal spice and fine tannin, alongside characterful whites from Manzoni Bianco, Nosiola and Pinot Grigio. Her children Emilio, Theo and Myrtha now run the estate.
History
The estate dates back to 1901 and came into family ownership in 1939 through Vittorio Foradori. The third generation proved decisive: Elisabetta Foradori took on responsibility very young after her father's early death and, in the mid-1980s, after training at the San Michele all'Adige wine school, began to go her own way.
At the time Teroldego in the Campo Rotaliano was seen as a high-yielding everyday grape, trained on tall pergolas and blended into simple bulk wine. Elisabetta Foradori pushed back. She combed through old plantings for small-berried, expressive vines, built her own massal selection and propagated the best plants in an on-site nursery. In 1986 she bottled Granato, the first Teroldego conceived as a serious wine – the beginning of the reputation the estate enjoys today.
Together with her husband, the agricultural scientist Rainer Zierock, she deepened her understanding of soil and plant. In 2002 she converted the estate to biodynamic farming, followed in 2009 by certification from Demeter and ICEA. Today the three children share the work: Emilio is responsible for winemaking, Theo for trade and sales, Myrtha for the farming – while Elisabetta has additionally devoted herself to artisan cheesemaking.
Site & Terroir
The heart of the estate lies in the Campo Rotaliano, an alluvial plain of just a few square kilometres north of Trento, where the river Noce meets the Adige. Steep Dolomite cliffs frame the plain and channel the air; the Ora, a reliable breeze off Lake Garda, brings ventilation and cool nights. The soils are deep, calcareous gravel and sand washed down by the Noce – free-draining, warm and ideal for late-ripening Teroldego, traditionally trained on the pergola trentina.
A second pillar sits considerably higher and cooler: in the hills above Trento the estate farms the Fontanasanta site on clay-limestone soil. There the white varieties Manzoni Bianco and Nosiola ripen more slowly and keep their acidity and perfume. The Pinot Grigio for the wine Fuoripista comes from a gravelly parcel.
Style & Philosophy
Foradori works from the plant outwards: living soils, cover crops, compost and biodynamic preparations, plus animals and a market garden as part of one farm organism. In the cellar this is matched by deliberate restraint – spontaneous fermentation with the vineyard's own yeasts, no fining, little filtration and very little sulphur.
The most striking tools are the clay amphorae, made by Spanish potter Juan Padilla from Villarrobledo. The single-parcel reds ferment and rest for roughly seven to nine months on their skins in bellied amphorae (panciuta); a portion then moves into cylindrical amphorae (cilindrica) for about another year. The whites spend around eight months in clay, usually with several days of skin contact. Clay breathes more than steel but, unlike barriques, adds no toasty aromas. The result is wine with clear fruit, saline texture and grippy, fine-grained tannin. Alcohol stays moderate, often well under 14 % vol.
Notable Sites & Wines
The range is compact and clearly tiered:
- Granato – the top wine from the oldest pergola vines (averaging around 70 years), pure Teroldego, named after the pomegranate
- Morei and Sgarzon – two single-parcel Teroldegos aged in amphorae; Sgarzon is the cooler, more filigree wine, Morei the darker and denser one
- Foradori Teroldego – the estate wine from the massal selection plantings
- Lezèr – a light, juicy Teroldego from young vines, good served cool
- Fontanasanta Manzoni Bianco and Fontanasanta Nosiola – whites from the hills above Trento
- Fuoripista – Pinot Grigio with long skin contact in clay, copper-coloured rather than pale
Awards
Granato ranks among the most decorated red wines of northern Italy and has repeatedly received the top Tre Bicchieri rating from Gambero Rosso. Elisabetta Foradori herself is regularly listed in the international wine press as one of Italy's defining growers – not only for the quality of her wines, but because she saved an entire grape variety from irrelevance and paved the way for amphora vinification in Italy. For many sommeliers, Foradori is now the first address for Teroldego.