Vine Farmer Day 4: A Study in Grignolino
A lot of the most interesting wines in Italy right now are coming from producers who stopped trying to imitate somewhere else. And as we have been seeing this week, those are exactly the kind of growers that Jace brings to us at Vine Farmer.
Most of you know Luca Faccenda for Roero, which is arguably the most exciting rising region in Piedmont outside Barolo and Barbaresco. We have been happy to feature his wines over the last several releases. Despite formal vineyard classifications placing Roero among elite company, the region spent decades overlooked in modern wine culture. Luca has become one of the clearest voices of the new generation changing that perception, making wines that speak honestly of Roero instead of chasing Barolo’s shadow.
But this wine actually comes from somewhere else. Not Barolo or Barbaresco, but Monferrato. Luca decided to recognize and champion that place on its own terms.
The 2024 “Bis Esto” is a side project born from Luca’s longtime fascination with Monferrato and its chalk rich soils, because Grignolino simply does not thrive in Roero’s sandy terrain. The fruit comes from a friend’s organically farmed vineyard that Luca helps oversee himself, so while technically outside the estate, the farming and standards remain entirely consistent with the Valfaccenda philosophy: native grapes, native yeast, careful farming, and nothing unnecessary added or removed.
In a way, it feels very Burgundy. Once top producers become impossible to source and allocations tighten, the smartest growers often expand thoughtfully through small négociant style projects that still reflect their vision while offering remarkable value. Grignolino itself deserves far more attention than it gets. It is one of Piedmont’s most underappreciated indigenous grapes: pale in color, intensely aromatic, high acid, and surprisingly tannic for its weight. There is a quiet nobility to it that occasionally recalls Nebbiolo’s rose petals, crushed stone, pomegranate, and herbs, but delivered with far less heaviness and far more immediacy.
Two weeks of maceration, native yeast fermentation in steel, then six months in steel and cement. Unfined. Unfiltered. The result is light bodied but structured, delicate looking but firmly held together by those classic Grignolino tannins. There is far more depth than the color suggests.
There is also something refreshing about a wine this transparent coming from someone with real technical pedigree. Luca studied oenology at the University of Turin, worked throughout Piedmont as a consulting winemaker, and in 2017 won the Giulio Gambelli Award for Best Young Winemaker in Italy, a genuinely meaningful recognition.
