The Mountains Are Calling

The story of Foradori begins in 1901, when the estate was established as a winery in the Campo Rotaliano zone of Trentino, on the border between Trentino and Alto Adige. In 1939, Vittorio Foradori purchased the property, and in 1960 his son Roberto began working there, producing the first vintage under the Foradori name. Roberto passed away in 1976, and his widow Gabriella took over management until 1985, when their daughter Elisabetta — just 19 years old and fresh from her studies at the Istituto di San Michele all'Adige — stepped in to lead the estate.

When Elisabetta took over, the Trentino wine industry was dominated by cooperatives focused on volume, and Teroldego — the region's most important indigenous red grape — was held in contempt. It was rarely made as a single varietal wine, almost always used for bulk blends, sold simply as "red wine" for the central European market. Even when it constituted 70% of a blend, it was not named on the label. Elisabetta, however, saw something others did not: Teroldego's noble heritage — it is related to Syrah and Pinot Noir — and its potential for greatness when cultivated with care and precision.

Elisabetta's early wines were influenced by the global trend toward riper, more extracted, oak-forward reds. But by 2000, she had grown dissatisfied. "A feeling of incompleteness and uncertainty began to permeate my days," she later wrote, "leading me to acknowledge the absence of a soul in the wines I produced." Influenced by Nicolas Joly, the godfather of biodynamic wine, and through her son Theo's Steiner school connections, she began exploring biodynamics. In 2002, the conversion began; Demeter certification was achieved in 2009. The change was profound: sulfur use was reduced, indigenous yeasts became central, and the wines grew fresher, more exciting, more alive.

In 2007, the estate expanded by renting Fontanasanta, a historic estate in the hills above Trento surrounded by streams and dense forests — ideal for Nosiola and Manzoni Bianco. In 2012, Elisabetta's son Emilio became winemaker after studying in Montpellier and working harvests from France to Patagonia. Theo joined in 2015 to handle sales and marketing. Myrtha, who worked on organic farms in Oregon and Quebec, began vegetable production in 2019 and cheesemaking in 2020 from the estate's Tyrolean Grey cows. In 2020, Elisabetta began planting Nosiola and Schiava on Monte Baldo, and in 2021 the first bottlings from this new site were released. The estate also joined the prestigious _respekt_-BIODYN group. Today, the fourth generation is fully in control, with Elisabetta focusing on biodynamic cheesemaking and blazing new trails while her children steward the wines.

At Foradori, the cellar philosophy is one of radical respect for the grape and the land — a belief that wine is alive, evolving, beating, going deep into the body and soul. The use of biodynamic preparations has outbalanced and enhanced the vineyard's ability to fully express its character, and this same philosophy extends into the cellar. Nearly 200 tinajas (Spanish amphorae) line the underground cellar, ranging from 350 litres to twice that size. The wines all see wild fermentation, include varying levels of stems, and receive minimal sulfur. There is no filtering. The amphorae "multiply the message," as Elisabetta says — they make the wine brighter, more delicate, more true to itself. This is not natural wine as trend; it is natural wine as necessity, as honesty, as the only way to capture the soul of these indigenous varieties.

The techniques are demanding, intuitive, and deeply rooted in biodynamic principles:

Harvest & Selection: All grapes are meticulously hand-harvested. Emilio and the team monitor each vineyard daily, tasting berries and observing the vines to determine optimal harvest timing. The labor is entirely manual — everything is done by hand, from pruning to picking. The estate maintains 12 fixed employees year-round rather than relying solely on seasonal workers, subsidizing a social care program and treating labor as critical to their mission. "Labor is critical to our mission as everything is done by hand," says Emilio.

"Granato" — The Flagship Teroldego: The Granato is Foradori's most celebrated wine — the flagship that secured the estate's reputation and proved Teroldego's nobility. It comes from three separate sites in Campo Rotaliano totalling four hectares, with soils varying across alluvial, gravel, and pebble. The vineyards are set up with pergolas, and the vines are around 70 years old. The name links the wine to pomegranates, as this variety is often grown alongside that fruit. Fermentation takes place in large open wooden vats with very little sulfur, using approximately 40–50% whole bunches. Maceration lasts two to three weeks; the team does not punch down or pump over, but works with submerged caps. The wine is then aged in old botti — up to 22 hectolitres — for 15 months. There is no filtering. The style has evolved over the years: once "international" with new French barriques, new oak stopped after 2000 and barriques were eliminated after 2008. Today, it is a wine of extraordinary depth, complexity, and ageing potential — dark berries, aniseed, black olives, cassis, with plush, soft tannins and a wonderfully long finish.

"Morei" & "Sgarzon" — Single-Vineyard Teroldego: Since 2009, the estate has bottled two single-vineyard Teroldegos that express the differing characters of Campo Rotaliano. Morei — meaning "dark" in local dialect — comes from 2.5 hectares of alluvial, pebbly soil. Fermented in amphorae, the wine spends eight months on skins, developing a texture of minerality and density. Sgarzon — meaning "shoot" — comes from 2.5 hectares of alluvial sandy soil, also fermented and aged eight months on skins in amphorae. Sgarzon tends toward elegance, freshness, and seamless length, while Morei offers spices, chocolate, herbs, and aniseed. Both are wines of great future potential, with alluring freshness and the ability to age beautifully. In recent years, the estate has also produced "Cilindrica" versions — from cylindrical pergola-trained vines — adding another layer of expression.

"Foradori" & "Lezèr" — The Teroldego Range: The estate produces two additional Teroldego expressions. The standard "Foradori" comes from vineyards created through mass selection and the reconstruction of different genetic variability across the sites of Campo Rotaliano — a wine that captures the breadth of the variety's expression. "Lezèr" — introduced in 2017 — is made from the youngest vines, producing a light, fresh, approachable red that offers an entry point to the Teroldego experience. Together, these four wines — Lezèr, Foradori, Morei, Sgarzon, and Granato — offer a complete spectrum of what Teroldego can achieve, from youthful freshness to profound, age-worthy complexity.

"Fuoripista" Pinot Grigio — Amphora Orange Wine: The Fuoripista Pinot Grigio is a collaboration between Foradori and biodynamic winemaker Marco Devigili from Campo Rotaliano. The wine spends more than eight months on skins inside tinajas brought from Spain — an extended period that, in the estate's words, "makes it brighter and more delicate." For Elisabetta, the amphorae "multiply the message." The result is an orange wine of gorgeous, exotic, exuberant aromatics — a wine that challenges every preconception about Pinot Grigio. It comes from two hectares at Campo Rotaliano, where gravelly soils of predominantly dolomitic rocks give the wine an archetypical structure. Production is around 10,000 bottles annually.

"Fontanasanta" Manzoni Bianco: Grown on five hectares of clay-limestone soils at Fontanasanta, this is a wine that "really comes into its own at least three years after harvest." Fermentation takes place on skins in cement tanks, followed by seven months of ageing in acacia casks. Manzoni Bianco is a crossing — the most successful of many attempts — between Riesling and Pinot Bianco, developed in the 1920s. Ian d'Agata describes it as "extremely high quality... one of the world's few truly successful crossings." The wine gives the deeply mineral character of Riesling and the floral scent of Pinot Blanc. Production is 20,000 bottles per annum.

"Fontanasanta" Nosiola: Nosiola is an ancient Trentino grape, the only white variety native to the region, and far less widespread than it once was. The name is linked to hazelnuts, and the wine offers both delicacy and longevity. At Foradori, it comes from three hectares of calcareous clay at Fontanasanta, fermented with eight months on skins in tinajas. The result is a wine of intense hazelnut character, peach and lemon notes, floral aromatics, and impressive length. It was usually used as a blending component until the early 1970s; Foradori has restored it to its rightful place as a varietal wine of distinction. Production is 10,000 bottles per annum.

Monte Baldo & New Frontiers: In 2020, Elisabetta began planting Nosiola and Schiava on Monte Baldo, and in 2021 the first bottlings from this new site were released. This is not expansion for expansion's sake; it is a continuation of the estate's mission to preserve and celebrate indigenous varieties in their ideal terroirs. The Monte Baldo project represents the next chapter in a story that began with Teroldego's resurrection and continues with every new planting, every new wine, every new expression of Trentino's viticultural heritage.