5/9/25 - 

Last weekend, the team from La Paulée, in partnership with Italian specialist Jeff Porter, hosted a weekend of dinners and a gala wine tasting called Convivio del Vino, with an impressive list of producers from all across Italy. In town for the blink of an eye were three producers who have been longtime friends of the shop, Alessandra and Saverio from Monte Dall'Ora, Theo Zierock from Foradori, and Arianna Occhipinti. As a celebration of their hard work and the joy their wines have brought to our lives, we've compiled a little offering from these passionate vignaioli, who have all raised the bar for organic viticulture and old-school, low intervention winemaking in Italy.

Monte Dall'Ora
 
Monte Dall'Ora was started in 1995 by wife and husband team, Alessandra Zantedeschi and Carlo Venturini. They renewed abandoned terraces, replanted local indigenous grape varieties, always focusing on organic and Biodynamic farming and agricultural practices. Now, 30 years later, they are joined by their son, Saverio, one of the most gentle, enthusiastic and charming Italian winemakers we have the pleasure of knowing!

The wines have always been beloved by the Chambers Street staff, and we are very happy to offer some classics, plus a new Pet-Nat! I will never forget visiting Monte Dall'Ora 10 years ago, which was the first visit and also my first ever day in Italy. Alessandra and Carlo were so welcoming and passionate, it was hard to leave at the end of the day, especially after a never-ending dinner complete with more courses than I could count, including purple ravioli made with their Amarone! 

Foradori
 
In a little corner of the Alto-Adige, at the feet of the Dolimites, Elisabetta Foradori quietly created a legendary winery many decades ago, focused on very low yields and passionate agriculture (she is one of the first winemakers I knew of who treated her vines like friends and family, literally speaking to them daily). Now sharing winemaking and commercial duties, Elisabetta's two sons, Theo and Emilio, have kept the traditions going. 

Local grapes are favored at Foradori, like the red Teroldego or nearly extinct white variety, Nosiola. Aging is in old barrels or one of the nearly (if not more than) a hundred clay amphoras that Elisabetta collected over the years. In addition to new releases, the family also sent some library wines to New York. For those of you who are waiting on the thirst quenching light red, 'Lezer' from the Foradori team, stay tuned for its arrival in the next few weeks!

Arianna Occhipinti

Another longtime friend of Chambers Street is Arianna Occhipinti, whose wines took the wine world by the storm over a decade ago. Many people had written off Sicily as a bastion of commercial, over-cropped wines, but when they tasted Arianna’s soulful and balanced examples of Nero d’Avola and Frappato, they were forced to take notice and reassess what Sicilian wine can be. Since releasing her first vintage at the age of 24 in 2006, she has been a champion of Sicilian viticulture – through organic practices, cooperative work with other winemakers, and raising the profile of her island’s indigenous grapes. It's hard to track down her wines at times, but we can offer her fantastic Siccagno bottling of Nero D'Avola and a few bottles we have left of her top white, the Vino di Contrada 'SM' Grillo. 

-Eben Lillie

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