You know when you are working on a project that makes you lose sleep? That involves you completely? That you would talk about again and again? For us, that project is this: Manifesto.
We have been working on it since at least 2021, since we realised it was possible.
The preamble.
In 2021, AMAP – Agenzia per l’Innovazione nel Settore Agroalimentare e della Pesca ‘Marche Agricoltura Pesca’ will share the results of a multi-year experiment dedicated to the cultivation of 39 PIWI varieties. Of these, 12 were found to perform well, including the Johanniter.
PIWI varieties – a German acronym for vines resistant to the main fungal diseases and winter – were created in France with the aim of combining resistance-carrying cultivars with the quality of European vines. By cultivating these varieties, farmers are able to significantly reduce the number of phytosanitary treatments, decreasing their carbon and water footprint and contributing to improved environmental, economic and social sustainability.
In cooperation with local farmers, we achieve the first microvinification of Johanniter in 2022. Just 20 litres. In 2023, this vine proves to us that its resistance is real: we find that it resists the attack of downy mildew very well and allows us to continue our observation with other microvinifications.
This brings us to 12 August 2024, the day we begin the harvest of which Manifesto’s first vintage is the fruit.
The heart.
We worked to understand the potential of the variety and to enhance it by adapting the vinification to the climate-soil combination.
We realised that at the time of pressing, the Johanniter grape cluster is a rich colour, thanks to the warm climate of the last few seasons and our clayey/sandy soils.
In addition, climate and soil have led the berry to protect itself, thickening its skin, a characteristic not typical of the grape variety itself, but due to its ability to adapt.
Hence the idea of enhancing the skin with maceration, which allowed us to obtain this modern orange wine.
And where do we put it now?
For Manifesto, we made bold choices, firstly the grape variety, and secondly the packaging.
The bottle, Oroshi from the Wildly Crafted Wines collection by Estal, a Spanish brand distributed exclusively in Spain by the Saida Group, is made of Wild Glass – 100% post-consumer recycled glass. A shape characterised by organic textures that blends with the silk-screening curated by Decolab. This combination of elements makes each bottle unique and unrepeatable. The use of paper has been relegated only to the collar, made by Rotocel from FSC® certified paper. The stopper is Nomacorc Ocean made from OBP (Ocean-Bound Plastics), i.e. recycled plastic waste that would otherwise end up in the oceans. No capsule.
Every detail, technical and aesthetic, was reasoned in coherence with the Manifesto concept by: Daniele Fabiano and Rossella D’Oria of AboutYou Comunichiamo (creative direction and copywriter), Andrea Castelletti Studio (concept and design).
A final note
The Johanniter is a variety cultivated in Germany and some regions in northern Italy. In contrast to other European countries (France, Germany, Austria), national legislation has not yet implemented Regulation (EU) 2021/2117, which would allow PIWI varieties to be included in designations of origin. In Italy, the situation is very heterogeneous. Only a few regions allow their cultivation, including the Marche region, although they are still relegated to the status of ‘varieties under observation’.
But this does not stop us in carrying on Manifesto, a bold and in its own way revolutionary project, a symbol of the sense of responsibility towards Holy Mother Earth (as Marilena says) that encompasses and contemplates our roots and our future.
So why?
As new generations inhabiting this present, we are faced with the need to make bold and creative choices to adapt to this new and changing situation. Grandpa Guido rediscovered pecorino cheese, it is up to us to find a sustainable answer to climate change.
And our answer is Manifesto.
