Foradori Teroldego Morei 2024

The Land

Morei sits just across the Campo Rotaliano plain from Foradori's other single-vineyard site, Sgarzon, but the two wines taste like they come from different regions. The 2.5-hectare Morei vineyard is alluvial soil thick with pebbles, deposited over centuries by the Noce River, distinct from Sgarzon's finer sand. Morei means moro, or dark, in the local Trentino dialect, a nod to the deep-hued fruit these vines produce. Warmer and more exposed than Sgarzon, the site pushes Teroldego toward its more intense, structured register rather than the lighter, more floral style found a few hundred meters away.

The Wine

100% Teroldego, fermented on the skins in Spanish amphorae for eight months, the same terracotta tinajas from Villarrobledo used across Foradori's amphora range, with no oak. The clay's porosity lets the wine develop without imposing outside flavor, so what shows in the glass is site and variety rather than winemaking. 2024 was a difficult year in Trentino: a wet, cool spring brought heavy mildew pressure and reduced yields well below normal, and a cool September added scattered rain that made careful sorting essential. Teroldego handled the vintage better than most varieties in the region. Expect a dark, almost inky fruit character, fine, sinewy tannin, electric acidity, and a long, smoky finish that carries real density without heaviness.

The People

Elisabetta Foradori took over her father's estate in Campo Rotaliano in 1984 at 19, inheriting a variety that growers were ripping out for Pinot Grigio and Merlot. She rebuilt Teroldego's reputation through massal selection, reduced yields, and single-vineyard bottling, starting with Granato in 1986. In 2009, after tasting the amphora-aged wines of COS in Sicily, she began experimenting with terracotta tinajas, eventually vinifying Morei and its sibling site, Sgarzon, separately once years of biodynamic farming made clear how differently each plot expressed itself. The estate's 28 hectares have been certified biodynamic since 2002. Morei is the darker, more structured half of that experiment, built to show what Teroldego can do on the plain's stonier ground.

Food Pairing

Morei's density and structure call for something substantial. Try it with a grilled porterhouse, braised short ribs, wild boar ragu over pappardelle, or a wood-fired mushroom pizza with taleggio. Its fine tannin and smoky depth stand up to charred, fatty cuts without getting flattened, while the underlying acidity keeps every bite moving. This is the Foradori red to open with a real meal, not a snack.