Hiraeth 2023 - Jacopo Stigliano
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Hiraeth 2023 - Jacopo Stigliano
Barbera, Uva Tosca, Negrettino, Lambrusco Grasparossa, Trebbiano Romagnolo, Albana · Emilia-Romagna, Italy · 75cl
Pickup available at 3 Cornmarket Street
Usually ready in 2-4 days
A blend of red and white varieties from Jacopo's old vineyards in Valsamoggia with notes of red plum, damson, and pithy pomegranate steeped in a voluminous, mineral-dense juice.
Though all the varieties in these old vineyards are yet to be identified, we can say the red varieties are Barbera, Uva Tosca, Negrettino, and Lambrusco Grasparossa, and the whites are Trebbiano Romagnolo and Albana.
A short maceration before pressing. Jacopo times the press to when the skins' cap rises, and he's happy with how the juice is tasting. Two years in concrete followed, and one year in bottle before release.
With 24 hours of maceration, this has a delicate structure and light colour, though the mineral density and dewy fruitiness give the wine a sense of power and grace.
The producer
Jacopo is a well-travelled lover of life and people, and even spent a year studying sociology at UCC here in Cork. He returned home to Valsamoggia, in the Apennine foothills of Emilia-Romagna, almost a decade ago, embarking on this significant project to preserve the millennia-old winemaking traditions of his region and the autochthonous varieties that grow in the valley's ancient vineyards. Restoring three hectares of old, co-planted vines on the lower part of the valley from abandonment, Jacopo's work preserves the vanishing viticultural practices of his home, with his approach in the vineyard and cellar deeply informed by the work of his mentors Antonio Ognibene, Giorgio Erioli, and Vittorio Graziano. The vineyards he tends were planted at a time before the prescriptions of industrialised farming swept the region, where each variety had a dedicated role in the balance of the vineyard and in the wine itself. Today, it’s rare to find many of these varieties growing anywhere, let alone beyond the crest of this valley. Jacopo prefers to pick everything at once, allowing each wine to ferment and age in one large mass, just as it would have been done when these vines were first planted.
The place
Hiraeth is a Welsh word, it translates roughly as a longing for something or somewhere that may no longer exist as remembered. Emilia-Romagna's Apennine foothills were once planted in what local farmers called coltura promiscua: vines, fruit trees, and grain grown together on the same land, with dozens of grape varieties sharing the same parcel rather than separated by variety or site. Industrial viticulture dismantled most of that in the second half of the twentieth century, replacing it with monoculture plantings of a handful of commercial varieties. The old mixed plantings Jacopo works in Valsamoggia are among the few that survived, a reminder of why his work is so significant. Clay and fractured limestone at 350 metres delivers more acidity and savoury mineral character than the flat Emilian plains produce, and the altitude brings diurnal temperature shifts that keep ripening slow and the wines fresh, though dramatic climatic shifts from the beginning of the decade have turned these patterns on their head somewhat.
Grapes: Ancient Blend
Region: Valsamoggia, Emilia-Romagna, Italy