Surface area 1.5 ha.
Natural since 2020

About the winemaker
Enrico and Costanza of I Versanti first crossed paths while working at the legendary Cascina degli Ulivi under Stefano Bellotti a place where their shared love for rural traditions and natural wine took root. The connection formed there inspired them to join forces and launch their own winery, just a stone’s throw from Ulivi. Today, the two are no longer a couple, and Enrico now runs the family-run vineyard on his own, but that original partnership continues to shape I Versanti’s ethos and the kinds of wines he crafts.

About the vineyard
Enrico, descended from a family of winemakers, was given the opportunity to steward a portion of his parents’ land. Though the ground had yet to see organic or biodynamic practices, Enrico and Costanza made it their mission to restore the soil before even considering their first natural wine. Now, the entire 1.5-hectare site is farmed according to biodynamic winemaking principles, the organic vineyards perched on sloping hillsides near Acqui Terme in the Alessandria region. Beneath the sand sits marl rich in limestone, lending the wines both backbone and vitality. Enrico has seen firsthand how the vines have come back to life since they began letting the soil recover a living testament to low-intervention producers and sustainable viticulture after years of chemical treatment.

About the wines
In 2020, following four years of transition, the pair released I Versanti’s very first bottles and what a debut. True to their philosophy in the vineyard, their approach in the cellar is guided by a light touch. As they put it, their role is simply to guide the juice along its natural path to becoming wine. The small-scale winery works with Barbera, Moscato, and the less heralded Brachetto. While Piemontese tradition often relegates Brachetto to sweet bottlings considered second-tier, here, I Versanti vinifies it dry, coaxing out beautiful dried fruit aromatics. Enrico typically harvests on the riper side, sometimes even with a touch of botrytis, yet the wines retain vibrant acidity and freshness, always balanced and never heavy. All current releases show a lively spritz bottled under crown cap which both protects these unsulfured, artisan wines and infuses them with energy and a sparkling sense of life. These are pure, expressive bottlings from a passionate European natural wine producer.

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