Lionello, and I were in our mid 20’s when we first met. Then, the owner was Dr Orlandi, a highly respected figure at the wine school in Conegliano whose vineyards were littered with oddities from Marzemino to Incrocio Manzoni.
Now, it is owned by Martino Zanetti (Hausbrandt coffee) and he has concentrated his efforts into the oddest of the oddities: Wildbacher. After a century of careful husbandry these vines bear little resemblance to the parent vine from Styria (borders of Austria and Hungary) and it has found a spiritual home on this spectacular vineyard, carved along a contour cut through the woods, below the beautifully renovated white farmhouse.
The real heartbeat of the estate is Prosecco, the vineyards lie midway between Valdobbiadene and Conegliano, so can, unusually, use both or either town on their label. The estate was amongst the first to commit to expressive single vineyard and single vintage prosecco.
