For we are Italy, and to Italy we shall return

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This year’s SPIT marks not merely our tenth anniversary, but a conscious return to first principles and recognition that Italy’s most compelling contemporary winemaking is, paradoxically, its most traditional.  

 

• Atavica, meaning a reversion to something ancient or ancestral, tells a romantic story: four friends (two Italian, two not) who met in Ireland before falling collectively in love with 17 hectares of ancient Etruscan vineyard in Tuscany’s Maremma. The wines possess an almost primordial character, structured, with firm tannins and earthy undertones that speak directly of their soils. Some of you will already know Luca and Massi; anyone who doesn’t will by the end of the day!

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• Terre di Pietra stands as one of Valpolicella’s most singular, quietly rebellious voices, a small family winery whose ethos brushes aside modern affection in favour of elemental honesty, humility, and depth. The new generation, Alica and Anna, will be at the helm at SPIT, following in the footsteps of their late mother, Laura Albertini, who started the winery at just twenty-five years old. Today, Laura’s husband Cristiano and the two daughters continue the project’s trajectory, working with the same unyielding dedication to authenticity, undistracted by fashion, market whim, or easy solutions. The results are wines with a clarity and vibrancy all too rare in modern Valpolicella.

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• Gregoletto has been synonymous with Col Fondo and Valdobbiadene for centuries. Now in the trusted hands of the family of the late Luigi Gregoletto, who continue to farm the slopes of Premaor di Miane in the foothills of the Dolomites, where limestone and clay soils lend natural tension to the wines. In a market flooded with technically immaculate but often characterless Proseccos, Gregoletto stands out as a refreshing addition to our first list and the Irish market. We are delighted to have Giovanni join us today!

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• Marche di San Michele in the Marche’s rolling inland hills with Adriatic breezes produce Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi, elevated to a level that shows just how refined and long-lived this variety can be when treated with care. To taste their wines is to be reminded of how rewarding Verdicchio can be when handled with precision, capable of both everyday charm and of real, cellar-worthy gravitas. To know Ale is to appreciate that some of the finest joys found in wine are inseparable from the friendships it cultivates. This time, we’ll also have the pleasure of meeting Margherita, who works the vines alongside him.

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Reflecting on SPIT’s journey reveals something profound about how wine appreciation has matured over this decade. What began as curiosity about “natural wine” has evolved into a sophisticated understanding of biological viticulture’s scientific foundations. This evolution, both in Ireland and globally, has been a fascinating trajectory to witness. The deliberate move away from the term “natural”, by both winemakers and wine drinkers, has been both noticeable and necessary, as there are countless ways to define this philosophy.

 

Buona Degustazione!