Andrea Marchetti
BACKGROUND
Andrea Marchetti has a special feeling for drinking good wines, an incredible curiosity and a professional background non related to vineyards and cellars! Being an outsider has helped him to approach viticulture and wine making without being judgmental.
Born in 1970 and passionate about wine since he was a kid, Andrea lives in a small town (Castel San Pietro Terme) east of Bologna, in Emilia Romagna. This is truly an amazing area, not only because this is where he is from, but also for the historical, cultural and gastronomic richness.
Fueled by simple curiosity and the never ending desire to embrace all the cultural aspects of the wine making, Andrea has started a long journey by mingling and hanging out with the most disparate communities of enthusiasts.
Initially he follows a “classic” path, earning the AIS (Italian Sommelier Association) diploma, attending for two years in the tasting panel for the Marche region for a famous guide and collaborating as an editor for three years with a renown blog, launching the thought provoking manifesto of the #nogomma wine (wines with no plastic … literally, meaning the rejection of any industrial compromise in the vineyard and in the cellar).
After approaching any type of drink obtained from grapes, from the supermarket brick to the rarer oenological gem, he realized that wine cannot be just an object to review on a guide and stopped performing in juries of the old school wine competitions.
Meanwhile he increasingly considered wine as the result of the agricultural management in the vineyard and a “creative” act in the cellar and consequently embraced the world of “natural” and artisanal wine, admiring growers elaborating small productions in an environmentally sustainable landscape.
Andrea’s next step was pretty fancy: he established ex novo a couple of wine fairs along with some local friends and partners.
Vinessum took its first steps in 2014 in the magnificent cloister of the Antico Convento San Francesco in Bagnacavallo near Ravenna from an intuition of Andrea Marchetti to promote an idea of wine that is the combination of craftsmanship related to honest representation of the terroir. Not a classic wine exhibit, Vinessum is more like a spontaneous informal gathering of wine aficionados and growers.
The second wine exhibit is Back to the Wine, hosted since the 2016 debut in Faenza, during the 3rd weekend of November. This is more classic business oriented exhibit attended by international importers and domestic distribution companies. After the forced stop due to the Covid 19 pandemic, in 2022 the show moved to Bologna.
The next step? Andrea wanted to produce some wines and therefore launched in 2017 his first version of the G-Ray Pinot Grigio Ramato with fruit sourced at the time from a small sized vineyard surrounded by an uncontaminated forest, near Arzignano in the province of Vicenza, in Veneto.
This successful rendition of the ramato style Pinot Grigio inspired him to give consistency to his viticultural project. Andrea has long time friendships and relations with many producers allowing him to monitor a bunch of organic farmed vineyards potentially available and worth the investment.
After several years, Andrea has developed two different wine ranges, Colors and La Corte dei Miracoli and his wines keep changing grapes composition and wine making, year after year.
Which is the common ground of the two wine ranges? The vineyards are farmed according uncertified organic techniques and the lunar calendar. No chemicals are sprayed, just sulfur and copper during the growing season. All the wines produced start with the spontaneous fermentation triggered by indigenous yeast continuing with the naturally done malolactic fermentation. In the cellar the wines are the result of a minimal intervention philosophy (unfined and unfiltered) and are barely sulfited, just to provide a constant stability.
Andrea’s wines are all deliberately declassified and not belonging to any specific DOC. To keep things lively and maybe even a bit fancy, he constantly changes labels and graphic design.
Colors is Andrea’s production coming from scattered and selected vineyards in Lombardia and Veneto, and all the wines are elaborated at Vigne del Pellagroso’s cellar (Billy Camazzola and his wife Sharom), near the Garda lake at the crossroad between the two regions.
In this area he farms in total 2,5 hectares and produces roughly 8.000 bottles per year.
Generally speaking, the landscape presents soft hills and bucolic valleys, just south of the Garda Lake and its only emissary river Mincio.
G-Ray (2021 vintage) is a skin contact Pinot Grigio, now produced from a vineyard located on a Morainic hill terroir (former glacier) north of Mantova. Technically speaking is a field blend because there is a 5% of Moscato in the mix, lifting the aromatic component. The grapes were hand harvested at the optimal right maturation.
The wine mass has been blended with Durella which is a fresh and high acidity driven grape. During countless experiments, Andrea enjoyed pretty much the blending and Durella is now 10% of the wine and not just 5% as originally planned.
Besides G-Ray, Andrea produces three other wines from the area.
Luci Rosse is a red field blend from Bardolino (a small village in the province of Verona, Veneto) with a beautiful view of the Garda Lake, coming from a single vineyard bordered by a dry stone wall (clos). The vineyard is planted with the classic local varieties Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella, Molinara and also some Osoleta. There is some Moscato as well, but Andrea has decided not to include it in the mix because it did not fit well. Harvested at the end of September and vinified and aged in concrete, Luci Rosse undergoes a short maceration of a few days and therefore is a light red.
Refermented in the bottle, the Pet Nat Explosion is predominantly made from Durella grapes coming from the Brenton village at 450 m above the sea level, blended with 15% Rondinella (vinified without skins) and Malavasia (5%). The fruit sourced from this vineyard is located near the Monti Lessini (Vicenza, Veneto) and presents soils of volcanic origin.
Last but not the least the 4th wine Resistencia Natural is a low yield field blend from Cabernet Sauvignon, Rondinella, Merlot and Groppello. The vineyard is located on the Garda lake by the Mantova side in Lombardia. Vinified and aged in concete vats, this is the only wine coming with the classic cork and a heavier glass.
La Corte dei Miracoli comprises all the Emilia Romagna wines which are produced and bottled at Filippo Manetti’s estate (Vigne San Lorenzo).
The area near the village of Brisighella is planted with several historical varieties like Albana, Trebbiano Romagnolo, Sangiovese, Ciliegiolo. Overall In this area he farms in total 2,5 hectares and produces roughly 8.000 bottles with 4 wines.
Let’s quickly describe the local terroir. Basically Brisighella presents two distinctive soils. The 1st one is the part between Brisighella and Faenza dominated by rich clay, while the 2nd soil south of Brisighella is marked by marine origin with sand and layers of chalk.
The different clays give flavor and thickness, the marly-sandy soil instead is capable to provide an elegant subtlety for wines.
We will keep things short by describing only La Corte which is the most important wine produced here. It’s a blend of Albana and Trebbiano Romagnolo resulting from 4 small separate vinifications then assembled together.
- Trebbiano Romagnolo from Solarolo (alluvional soil, low altitude) fermented in stainless steel vats and direct press (fresh, racy, easy to drink).
- Albana from Valpiana di Brisighella (high hills marked by marlstone) fermented in stainless steel vats and direct press providing elegance.
- Trebbiano Romagnolo ed Albana sourced between Brisighella and Faenza (hills marked by clay) separately vinified in stainless steel tanks and macerated 10 days. These two wine masses aged in neutral barriques providing a rich mouthfeel, waxy sensations and glyceric notes.
Aged in stainless steel vats and neutral barriques (roughly 30% of the wine). Decanting of the solid parts only with time and the winter cold. Unfiltered and unfined and therefore suitable for vegans. The wine has an excellent mouthfeel and perfectly pairs with food.
It’s a great matching with all the tasty dishes of the Italian tradition, including structured ones. It is an awesome match with first courses in broth like tortellini, cappelletti and passatelli particularly and also with aged cheeses.
Alcohol by Volume: 13% vol. Total SO2: 30 mg/l. Bottled in June 2021.

In a nutshell
- Who: Andrea Marchetti
- Where: Lombardia, Veneto and Emilia Romagna
-
What: Garda Colli Mantovani varieties: Rondinella, Cabernet Sauvignon, Groppello, Merlot, Pinot Grigio, Malvasia, Moscato.
Bardolino Garda Verona side: Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella, Molinara, Osoleta, Moscato.
Lessinia variety: Durella.
Romagna's varieties: Albana, Trebbiano Romagnolo, Ciliegiolo, Sangiovese. - Hectares: 5
- Quantity: 16,000 bottles
- Plus: natural wines with fruit sourced from recovered vineyards. Andrea lives near Bologna (Emilia Romagna) but often travels to the north
Wines
Map
Bologna, Emilia Romagna, Italy.

andreamarchetti
Bologna, Emilia Romagna, Italy.
Lago di Garda, Lombardia, Italy.

andreamarchetti Lombardia
Lago di Garda, Lombardia, Italy.