Last week we attended the fifteenth edition of the “Vini di Vignaioli” wine fair in Fornovo di Taro (Parma) which translated to english means “Wines of the Winemakers".
This is for sure one of the most interesting wine fairs in the organic, biodynamic and natural wine scene.
The term “Wines of the Winemakers” gives an idea about the type of wines presented at the fair. But what does the term actually mean? Aren’t all wines made by Winemakers? No, they are actually not. A big part of the wines are made in the cellars by oenologist in an industry-like environment where millions of bottles are produced.
The Italian word “Vignaiolo” doesn’t translate readily into english, it means a person who plants, tends, harvests and makes the wine in the cellar. And in the case of the Vignaioli who are presenting their wines in the fair they work with as little intervention as possible in both vineyard and cellar. Meaning; Manual harvesting, fermentation only with indigenous yeasts, no modification of the grapes or the must, no chemical or other substances is added to the wine with the exception of possibly a minimum amount of sulphites. We talk about small artisan wineries, because to be able to conduct all the work you can manage at most 10 to 20 hectares of vines and that means small volumes of wine.
The “Vini di Vignaioli” fair is a meeting place for small artisan wineries. Many of the wineries we collaborate with where there, we were happy to see them there and also to meet new producers and to taste some excellent natural wines. Some of them will soon available in our wine portfolio!