Lombardia, Italy

Inspired by his grandfather’s vinous hobby, Enrico Togni-Rebaioli left law school to work as a farmer. His organic (certified) and biodynamic 3.2 hectares of vineyards are co-planted with intermixed gardens and countless fruit trees surrounded by wild, verdant alpine brush and forest below limestone bluffs. These limestone terraces rich in organic material are lightly covered with calcareous sand and sit between 250-400 meters of altitude. His labels are an ode to the Valcamonica petroglyphs and are without DOC classification, and he focuses on Nebbiolo and Erbanno, the latter a Lambrusco family variety. His still red wines are naturally fermented with full stem inclusion and principally age in old concrete vats (with the Nebbiolo 1703 on skins and stems for six months!). Sulfites are used sparingly (when used at all) with his metodo classico sparkling wines aged for 18 months on their lees with no added sulfites or dosage

100% whole cluster natural fermentation and aging in concrete or very old wooden cask

The other still wine from Erbanno, labeled as San Valentino, is darker and a more classically extracted red. During the earlier phases just after bottling it can be a little shut down because of the intended reductive approach Enrico employs during the cellar aging to keep each wine’s freshness and aromas as preserved as possible, and to allow for their single sulfur addition to wait until bottling and with a very judicious dose with a maximum of 15mg/L addition. As previously mentioned, it is a more gamey red but still retains the higher tones of Erbanno, making it a unique experience for anyone, as it indeed may be the only known wine of its kind.

Almost twenty years after redirecting his life focus, Enrico stands as a modern-day pioneer in his valley both philosophically, with his full commitment to organic (certified) and biodynamic practices, and his uninhibited cellar agenda to craft whatever inspires him. There has never been a better time for the acceptance of experimentation the world over, no matter what flaws may surface in a finished wine—though as mentioned, Enrico’s are quite clean on that front. Today’s “natural wine” movement, whose greatest contribution to wine may not be the wines themselves, but rather that it opened a gateway for discovery for guys like him, without too much in the way of market repercussions. (Though some have been saved from financial failure with get-out-of-jail-free cards for downright negligent work, thanks to the support of the industry’s most blind ideologues.) Enrico can fly freely and be creative in the ways he wants without losing his shirt in the process, as former generations would have.

Erbanno, a member of the “Lambrusco” family that requires far less treatments (usually one for every three compared to the others) in the vineyards because its thick skins, which provide a naturally stronger immunity to mildew and disease.

The Story: Enrico Togni is the last grower of a native Italian grape known as Erbanno. He farms a small piece of land in Val Camonica way up in the hills of Lombardia. Enrico farms organically and biodynamically. He raises sheep and moves the sheep around his 3ha farm in an old 4x4 Fiat Panda. There is so much to love about Enrico, his family, and their wines. We fell in love with his wines starting with his Rosato, made from 100% Erbanno. Production is tiny and we will continue to get very small amounts of his wines. The vineyard was originally owned by Enrico’s grandfather who planted the first grapes in 1960. Enrico left law school to save the family farm and the Erbanno grape from going out of production. Vineyard: The vineyard is located in Val Camonica which is the longest valley in Lombardia as well as the longest valley in the Italian Alps. The vineyard’s altitude is 250 meters to 400 meters above sea level. There are steep slopes all around and one particular mountain that is 1,703 meters above sea level.