2022 La Villana Rosato Lazio IGT

Joy Kull, the Swiss-American from the East Coast, found her way to the Bolsena area of Lazio in 2013. After apprenticing with Le Coste, she ventured out on her own and created La Villana. La Villana started with just a few old vineyards and a tiny garage. The first vintage was enjoyed by Joy and Simone's wedding guests in 2016.

Today, La Villana farms nearly 5 hectares of old and new vineyards and produces roughly 30,000 bottles per year. Joy’s approach is a collection of all she’s learned plus her creative spirit- the American Dream is apparent in her immediately, as she experiments with different vine training techniques to understand what works best in the wind swept hills of Gradoli. In 2021 Joy made the decision to no longer till or plough the soils, a Biodynamic adaptation, so the soils can slowly regenerate without interruption.

The rosato is 100% Aleatico, a grape native to the Tuscia area (northern Lazio and southern Tuscany). Like all her wines, it is made with minimal intervention methods: crushed by foot & direct pressed into tanks for fermentation; no filtration or fining, or use any additives whatsoever (there is no added sulfur). She uses no pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers except composted sheep manure (her husband is a shepherd!) to allow the wines to sing of their time & place over anything else.

This wine is a clear, delightful and utterly distinct. Candied lemons, flower bushels, raspberry jam, strawberry ring pop, rosemary & red licorice ropes. Drink on bright autumnal afternoons outdoors.