Fabio Gea 'Back Grin' 2019

Producer: Fabio Gea

Country: Italy

Region: Piedmont

Varietal: Maybe Grignolino...Fabio doesn't want to say

Vintage: 2019

Size: 750ml

Color: Red

Notes: Fabio makes this wine with grapes purchased from a friend. The name of this wine is literal and in English: "Back Grin". The estate's sickle and rake logo (which Fabio has said is intentionally made to resemble a human backside) have a hand drawn smile on every bottle. The idea, we believe, it to show you can be playful and creative in a traditional area. The "grin" is also a reference to the Grignolino grape. The wine is bottled in old Travaglini Gattinara bottles Fabio found in an old warehouse. The number of the bottle and the total number of bottles are hand written on labels made from handmade paper. There is an elaborate code on each label that we break down in Fabio's producer profile.

The grapes are destemmed and macerated for two to three weeks. Fermentation and aging takes place in homemade porcelain and stoneware vessels. No sulfur added.

Fabio was originally a geologist. He gave it up to make wine and uses his knowledge of rocks and the landscape to reshape the land that had been /abandoned The whole enterprise is a few lines of Nebbiolo inside and outside of the Barbaresco designation, as well as small patches of Dolcetto and Barbera - in total 0.9 hectare.

All vineyard work is done by hand, with minimal treatments of only copper and sulfur. In the cellar, apart from experiments, he uses older barrels of 440 liters and 500 liters, glass and stainless. The total production is around 5000 bottles a year of 6-7 different wines. Some wines are traditional, others are definitely outside-the-box.

La Msoira e'L Rastel is the name on each bottle and the titular name of the estate. It is represented in the symbol on the bottle and means in Piemontese dialect: The Sickle and the Rake.