Foradori - Lezer Vigneti delle Dolomiti Teroldego 2022

Elisabetta Foradori is a legendary name in wine. However, the story started earlier, in 1901, when the winery was established, and then in 1939, when Vittorio Foradori acquired it. His son, Roberto, starts working in 1960, the year when the first Foradori wine was bottled. Gabriella Casna Foradori took over the estate in 1976 after the death of her husband, and her daughter, Elisabetta, made her first vintage in 1984 after completing her oenological studies at St. Michelle all’Aldige.

This is clearly a turning point for Foradori: selection massale starts on Teroldego vines, and a number of new wines are launched: Granato, Morei, Sgarzon, Ailampa, and Karanar, which put Foradori on the map of great wine makers.

At the helm today, a fourth generation of family winemakers run Foradori’s activities. It was Elisabetta Foradori and Rainer Zierock’s work that led to the salvage and regeneration of the Teroldego grape variety through their cultivation of the grape’s original genetic family. Today their children Emilio, Theo, and Myrtha Zierock continue in their footsteps to run the winery.

Emilio manages wine production, while Theo oversees the winery’s business and commerce; Myrtha takes care of Foradori’s farming and gradual expansion. Together the three of them oversee the smooth running of the winery, supported constantly by their mother Elisabetta.

The winery was converted to biodynamic farming in 2002, and befitting a family with a tradition of innovation, the production now includes wines made from Manzoni Bianco, Pinot Grigio, as well as Lezèr, a wine that is made with very short maceration processes–really, the result of an experiment when trying to save some of the harvest of 2017 where 40% of the vines were damaged by hail.

Today, Foradori harvest the grapes from vineyards covering 30 hectares–80% of Teroldego, 10% of Manzoni Bianco, 5% of Nosiola, and 5% of Pinot Grigio–to produce an average of 180,000 bottles per year: 50,000 of Foradori, 20,000 of Granato, 20,000 of Fontanasanta Manzoni Bianco, 10,000 of Fontanasanta Nosiola, 10,000 of Fuoripista Pinot Grigio, 10,000 for each vineyards of Sgarzon and Morei, and 50,000 bottles of Lezèr.