DENAVOLO DI GIULIO - MANSANO (2019)

Giulio Armani has a lot of experience making natural wine. He has been the wine-maker at natural wine stalwart La Stoppa in Piacenza for a long time. But, when we first met Giulio back in 2011, what really blew us away were the wines from his own side project: DENAVOLO. These wines are special. Why? Because they talk of a place. A small isolated place high up in the hills of Emilia-Romagna. Every great wine begins with a great vineyard and Giulio has some of the most special vineyards we have ever seen. Perched precariously on the top of the foothills in the far western portion of Emilia-Romagna near Piacenza and not far from the sea, his vineyards start at 300m and top out at 750m. The only way to get to the top vineyards is by slogging up an old trail in an all wheel drive vehicle and hope that you make it. You reach the Denavolo vineyard first. This mature (30 year old) vineyard is where Giulio makes his flagship wine DENAVOLO.