Producer Ilaria Addis

SARDINIA

A few pages would be needed to write about Addis, but for the sake of brevity, we will do as for all the others: he defines himself as "Italo-Sardinian", who lives in Sardinia and (near) Bologna, where he divides his time between the profession of architect and of winemaker. The grandparents bought a few hectares of land on a hill near Luras, in Alta Gallura, which was called "Sa Neula", the fog, which to Ilaria must have seemed a bit like a premonition from the Po Valley. Quite a lot, the company initially consisted of 60 hectares, 30 of vineyards and 30 of woods. The production is first of grapes, given to the social cellar, then of wine, but Ilaria takes a step further: she embraces natural viticulture and thanks to the advice and exhortations of Alessandro Dettori, she begins to produce wine with her own label. The vineyards stand on a monzo-granite hill bordered by two streams. There are many varieties in the vineyard, mainly Vermentino, with a concentration of 3000 vines per hectare, very low yields (age of the vines and poor nature of the soil). Since 2016, in the part of the vineyards that Ilaria manages, interventions have been reduced to a minimum: the main helpers in the vineyard are 80 sheep who graze undisturbed during the months of vegetative rest and when fruit development has already begun, controlling the growth of the grass between the screws. In some years, leguminous green manure is grown between the rows, always allowing the autochthonous varieties of spontaneous plants to develop. The grapes are harvested manually in small crates. spontaneous fermentation takes place in steel. The draining takes place by gravity and the pressing through the traditional hand press, with a yield of about 50% of the weight of the harvested grapes. The decanting is limited to the bare minimum and the maturation always takes place in small steel tanks, on its lees which are regularly tasted and suspended through batonnage. All the operations in the cellar are carried out by hand by Ilaria, with the invaluable help (moral and not only) of her daughter Gioia.