Sete Nfrascato

Grapes: Ottonese + Moscato

Region: Lazio, Italy

Vintage: 2021

Viticulture: Organic

Soils: Clay + Silt

Vinification: The Ottonese, imbuing the wine with depth and jumping acidity, is direct-pressed in whole bunches with a wooden press, while the Moscato, giving it floral and fruity aromatics, sees 24 hours skin contact.

Aging: In fiberglass for 9 months

Fining or Filtering: None

Sulfur: None added

Notes from the Importer: Sete, meaning “thirst” in Italian, is a dream come true of lifelong friends Emiliano and Arcangelo and now a symbol of the natural wine renaissance of the too often overlooked Lazio region. After Emiliano’s working a few vintages (where he actually slept among the vines Shaolin Temple-style) at famed natural estate Le Coste, him and Arcangelo created Sete not only as a winery but as a cultural and social project, aiming to save from oblivion old abandoned vineyards and almost forgotten varieties. Sete il located near Priverno, in the pristine agricultural heaven of the Amaseno river valley (rich among others with orchards and buffalo farms for mozzarella), about halfway between Rome and Naples. Having begun purchasing grapes from elderly farmers and renting and tending to their vines, Sete now farms according to the most rigorous natural ethos a number of old single cru’s with obscure yet heavenly grapes such as Ottonese, Cesanese, Bonamico or Moscato Bianco. Work in the cellar is likewise masterfully low-intervention and the resulting wines, always fermented naturally and with no added SO2, are always astounding in personality and energy.