Discovering Future Wines, on Can Wine Save the Planet?
Discovering the Wines of Marcel Zanolari
Day 9 of our 12 Days of Wine Celebration!
These vineyards are farming the soil, creating healthy environments with biodynamic and regenerative methods. This generates biodiversity, sequesters carbon, and, in turn, makes delicious wine.Wines for the Future.
These are wineries and vineyards that are doing the work, in their own way, to be sure we have a long, healthy future on our planet in which to enjoy wine!
Grab a glass and celebrate with us!
Join us at Crushed Grape Chronicles for the Full Story!
Marcel Zanolari
Adventurous, charming, a bit chaotic?
That would describe Marcel Zanolari and his wines. This winemaker is Swiss, but his vineyards are in Valtellina, Italy.
He hang-glides, raises goats, and has vineyards all over the eastern end of Valtellina.
His adventurous, curious nature must be handed down. In the 1980s, his father, Giuliano Zanolari, began cultivating vines, testing methods to avoid synthetic fungicides, and testing new hybrid grape varieties. Marcel continues this work today.
Marcel grows many varieties in addition to the traditional Nebbiolo. Currently, he has almost 100 PiWI varieties he is testing.
It is an adventure to keep up with him as he darts between scattered vineyard blocks, moving the grazing goats, checking on the other livestock, the fruittaio and the winery.
Where? Bianzone, Valtellina, Italy
High in Northern Lombardia, just across the Swiss Alps, is the Valley of Valtellina. It is a land to itself bordered by the Rhaetian Alps to the North and the Orobiche Alps to the south, following the path of the Adda River.
The south-facing slopes in the foothills of the Swiss Alps are where most of the grapes are grown. The slopes are often so steep that you cannot use even the tiny Italian tractors easily.
The other side of the valley has several months of the year where they do not see direct sunlight.
Marcel’s vineyards are at the east end of this valley near Tirano, and some of these vineyards sit as high as 900 meters above sea level (almost 3000 feet). Others are located on “the Dark Side,” where few vintners would dare to grow vines. His winery is in the town of Bianzone, west of Tirano.
How are they making the future better?
Marcel has small plots all over the Eastern end of the Valtellina region. There are vineyards on “the Dark Side.” To test the varieties, he plants them in 2 to 3 locations with varying soils, altitudes, and microclimates.
Of course, with so many small plots of grapes, the wines are bound to be blends.
He has a herd of goats, mostly rescues, that he grazes in the vineyards. When we visited, it was harvest, and the goats could not be in the vineyard. He has contracted with the town to use the goats to clear the shrubbery in the drainage ditches. The goats are fed, and the goats are much cheaper than the service the town was paying for before!
His goal is to cross-breed the goats with the local mountain goats and summer them in the alpine meadows above the vineyards.
Biodynamics is not easy here. His is one of just 2 biodynamic vineyards in the region. The nearest group is in Trentino Alto Adige and consultants? Well, they are expensive. So Marcel reads and figures a lot out on his own. He sticks to those things that feel right.
They are also a Certified B-Corp. His website shares his mission in the header “Connecting People, Society and Land through Sustainable Agriculture and Passion.”
Links
You can visit the Marcel Zanolari website
http://www.marcelzanolari.com/en/
We also wrote an extensive article (with a video) on our visit to his vineyards and winery with him in Valtellina in October of 2022.
English
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