Elisabetta Foradori is a big deal with a big heart. Her wines are the result of not submitting to a world of dull, mass produced, pallid wine. They are the result of a long journey to achieve true biodiversity in the vineyard, genetic diversity of her beloved teroldego grape, and to capture and express the voice of her terroir. She is sincere, dedicated- she sets a standard for winemaking that many aspire to meet. When young winemakers say they look up to Foradori, it is because of the decades of tireless effort she has put into her land and her teroldego.

Grown primarily in Trentino’s Campo Rotaliano region in the northeast of Italy and rarely seen elsewhere, it’s a somewhat obscure grape- a genetic relative of Syrah and perhaps Pinot Noir. It is defined by its strength and structure, combined with plentiful juicy, dark fruit, subtle spice, and soft tannins.

At the age of 19, following the sudden passing of her father, she took over the family winery out of a sense of duty. As a young winemaker, she sought technical perfection, aiming to produce flawless wines. While she was committed to teroldego, she lost her connection to the land. The state of winemaking production in the region at the time was one of quantity over quality, and the teroldego clone of the area, was a prime example of that. It had lost its character. Elisabetta, through massal selection, sought to restore the genetic diversity of this indigenous grape. Through this process, she dove deep into the history of teroldego, and came out the other side a changed person. She needed to watch and listen to the earth.

The results obtained through years of biodynamic farming and observing stability in the vineyard emphasized the character of each plot of land and made us realize that we would need to undertake a separate vinification across two vineyards.
Through the use of amphorae (Tinajas from Villarrobledo, Spain), with their particular shape and the porosity of the clay that they are made of, the winemaking process is undertaken with purity and balance. The process of turning grapes into wine is not effected by outside influences; the amphora acts as a shield, allowing the grapes to progress with only the character of the earth and grape variety as their guidance. Morei means ‘moro’ or ‘dark’ in the Trentino dialect and the grapes cultivated in this vineyard are a firm echo of this. Their roots rest among the pebbles and the sand in the earth carried by the Noce River, cultivating
wines with a texture of minerality and density. Morei Teroldego resumes form and is reborn amplified and transformed.

-From the producer