Referred to simply as "Foradori" by the Foradori when speaking of their various wines, this is the estate's core red: first bottled by Elisabetta's parents back in 1960 and their largest production today. It comes from 9 hectares of estate vines, planted from 1956 to 2005 on the flat, sunny, well-drained Camp Rotaliano plateau right around the winery. The soils are a range of alluvial sand and gravel and feature Dolomitic limestone. Older vines are trained traditionally in pergola; younger vines are trained on wires in guyot. The farming is certified-biodynamic. There are 15 separate parcels, all hand-harvested and vinified separately. The bunches are partly destemmed and partly left intact, depending on the vintage; the uncrushed berries and the whole clusters are layered in cement tanks, where they ferment spontaneously with indigenous yeasts and no sulfur. The wine is aged for around a year in well-worn, 20-40-hectoliter botti and bottled without fining or filtration and with a small dose of sulfur.

Elisabetta Foradori's journey in her “wine life” is a familiar tale, but one that we never tire of hearing. The early death of her father unexpectedly hurtled her to the management of the family estate. Though “born among the vines” as she says, she took the helm at first more from a sense of duty than one of passion or vocation. Eventually, however, that passion and vocation came through the work itself, both in the vines and in the cellar.

Despite her star rising as "the queen of Teroldego" through the 90's, by 2000 Elisabetta had lost all personal connection to her work. A path of questioning, experiment and intuition (that included everything from biodynamics, massale selection and the use of amphorae) eventually led her to give up any sense of chasing market trends of the “wine industry” to develop the estate towards the goal of making wines respectful of the soil and the local grapes she wants to honor, and using the techniques she found more interesting, less invasive, and more wine “holistic”.

Even with a proven track record, starting from scratch does not always guarantee success. Decisions like progressively replanting the majority of the land from pergola to guyot, radically changing vinifications, producing single vineyard expressions of Teroldego (in amphora no less!); there was no way to know if this would resonate with established or new customers. Still, Elisabetta stayed true to her instincts and as we now know, kept her proverbial throne.

Elisabetta is still very much a daily presence and "the face" for most of the winery's fans. But if you've been following the estate over the last decade it's likely you've met and interacted with her three children Emilio, Theo and Myrtha. All three are lovely and very much evolving the winery into its next phase of existence.