For roughly 150 years the Foppiani family farmed the hills above Bobbio and kept the wine for themselves. Only in 2017 did Paolo Foppiani and his wife Giovanna decide to vinify their entire harvest and share it with the wider world.
Backstory
The estate sits in the hamlet of Fognano, near Bobbio, in the Val Trebbia of the Colli Piacentini. The family has worked this land for around four generations. For most of that time they pressed grapes purely for home consumption, with vineyards farmed without chemicals since 1990. The turning point came in 2017, when Paolo and Giovanna committed to making natural wine from all their fruit.
They did not do it alone. Giulio Armani, the winemaker behind nearby La Stoppa and his own Denavolo project, consults directly on the wines, lending the cellar a familiar Piacentino fingerprint and a shared belief in indigenous yeasts and minimal intervention.
The Region
The Val Trebbia cuts through the Apennine foothills south of Piacenza, a green valley of chestnut woods, tortelli, and a growing cluster of natural growers. The local white tradition centers on Malvasia di Candia Aromatica and Ortrugo, the same grapes that define the wider Colli Piacentini, while reds lean on Barbera and Bonarda.
Vineyards & Farming
The property covers around 110 hectares, of which roughly 3 are under vine. Vineyards sit between 300 and 400 meters on calcareous, limestone-rich soils that drain well and concentrate minerality. Vines run 20 to 40 years old, trained to Guyot and grassed between the rows to encourage life in the soil. Farming is certified organic, worked largely by hand, with only copper and sulfur used in the vineyard. Plantings include Malvasia di Candia Aromatica, Ortrugo, Barbera, Bonarda, and Dolcetto. Harvest is manual, typically in late September.
Winemaking
Everything ferments spontaneously with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel tanks. Whites and reds see roughly two weeks of skin maceration, drawing color, texture, and grip from the grapes themselves. Wines then rest 8 to 10 months before bottling. Nothing is fined or filtered, and no sulfites are added at any stage, so the wines arrive soft, hazy, and alive.
The Wines
The flagship Vino di Fognano Bianco is a skin-contact orange wine from Malvasia and Ortrugo, around 10.5% alcohol and gentle in its tannins. The Rosso leans on Barbera and Bonarda. A rosato and a Barbera-based pet-nat round out a small range, roughly 12,000 bottles a year, that tastes unmistakably of the Val Trebbia.
