Grown in the alpine city of Trento, Italy, “Joannizza” is created from Joannita, a grape created in 1968 from a cross of Riesling, Seyve-Villard, Rulander, and Gutedel.  This varietal is fungus and disease resistant…and rare. It is only grown in a few places, mostly in Germany and Switzerland. The Furlani family vineyard has 2.5 acres of Joannita. This vineyard is currently in the hands of Matteo Furlani, a 4th generation winemaker. While the family has always practiced organic farming, Matteo has also introduced some biodynamic techniques. Additionally, wines are fermented with no yeast or sulfur, in cement tanks and small glass jugs with no temperature control. The wines are placed outside in the snow to settle. This hands-off, small-batch approach is reflected in the wine. With a week of fermentation on the skins of the grape, the secondary fermentation is completed in the bottle with conserved grape must, resulting in lovely and persistent medium-sized bubbles. The hue is a bright and cheerful lemonade yellow, with strong aromas of yeasty baked bread, unripe apricot, and toasted …