Tenuta Foresto

Francesco Pozzobon

Nizza Monferrato, Asti, Piedmont, Italy

Tenuta Foresto lies in the hills of Nizza Monferrato, in the heart of Asti (Piemonte), Italy. During the winter of 2016/17 Francesco Pozzobon used this place to realise his dream of setting up a vineyard and producing wine. He took over a semi-abandoned farmhouse with a vineyard where for years nothing had been grown intensively. It met the exact conditions he had in mind as it is surrounded by woods, preventing chemicals used on neighbouring conventional vineyards of blowing over onto their vines.

Francesco strives to have as little influence as possibile on the natural ecosystem. By listening to the seasons they have managed to recover the fertility of the land and give their vines a fruitful place. Their cellar is a well insulated place that follows the temperatures of the different seasons without burdening the wines.

The harvested grapes are placed in 35-50 hl tanks made of concrete or wood. In these tanks the fermentation takes place spontaneously together with the maceration. The ripening lasts about 12 months in oak barrels, without filtration, fining or addition of sulphites whatsoever. The wine is then bottled and let to ripen another 3 months in the bottle.

Francesco predominantly uses local grape varieties such as Barbera, Moscato, Cortese and Dolcetto. The vines are all between 10 and 70 years of age and are planted in soils of limestone mixed with some clay and chalk, a terroir typical of the Nizza Monferrato region. Francesco really aims for his wines to be an honest representation of this terroir.

The wines are straightforward, fruity, elegant but rich and for every wine drinker, natural lovers or not. La ideale is the perfect by the glass Barbera, whilst Paupau is the lighter happy fruity wine and Acru is his grand cru Barbera, a must.