Maneterra

Liguria, Italy
Claudio Felisso, founder and winemaker of Maneterra in Liguria, Italy.
View across the Colli di Luni hills surrounding Maneterra in Liguria, Italy.
Claudio Felisso of Maneterra standing beside his organic vineyards in Liguria.
Organic Vermentino vineyards at Maneterra overlooking the Colli di Luni hills.
Sedimentary and metamorphic vineyard soils at Maneterra in the Colli di Luni.
Exposed metamorphic bedrock in Maneterra's hillside vineyards in Liguria.
Rows of organically farmed Vermentino vines at Maneterra in Liguria.
Traditional dry stone wall surrounding Maneterra's vineyards in Liguria, Italy.
Rocky shale and stone soils in Maneterra's organic vineyards in Liguria, Italy.
Rocky vineyard floor at Maneterra showing mineral-rich soils in Liguria.
Blue metamorphic stone found in Maneterra's vineyard soils in Liguria.

This website contains no AI-generated text or images.
All writing and photography are original works by Ted Vance.

Related material

Short Summary

Located in Liguria’s Colli di Luni region, Maneterra was founded by Claudio Felisso, a native of the area. After training at the École Nationale Supérieure d'Agronomie in Montpellier and gaining vineyard and winery experience in Toscana, Romagna, Piemonte, France, and Chile, he returned to create his own project on the hills of Castelnuovo, Fosdinovo, and Fravizzola in the Val di Magra, a warm valley shielded from the sea and the Gulf of Spezia by Monte Caprione. In this northwest-to-southeast-facing valley, Claudio focuses on cultivating Vermentino using only copper, sulfur, and organic fertilizers and treatments. In the cellar, his hand is deft; his Vermentino kissed by the salty freshness of the sea, the citrusy zest of soft Mediterranean winds, and captures the essence of Liguria’s land and its charming, generous people.

Full Length Story

Located in Liguria’s Colli di Luni region, Maneterra was founded by Claudio Felisso, a native of the area. After training at the École Nationale Supérieure d’Agronomie in Montpellier and gaining vineyard and winery experience in Toscana, Romagna, Piemonte, France, and Chile, he returned to create his own project on the hills of Castelnuovo, Fosdinovo, and Fravizzola in the Val di Magra, a warm valley shielded from the sea and the Gulf of Spezia by Monte Caprione. In this northwest-to-southeast-facing valley, Claudio focuses on cultivating Vermentino using only copper, sulfur, and organic fertilizers and treatments. In the cellar, his hand is deft; his Vermentino kissed by the salty freshness of the sea, the citrusy zest of soft Mediterranean winds, and captures the essence of Liguria’s land and its charming, generous people. The only problem is its tiny quantity available!

Manaterra’s Vermentino is harvested from 3 different organic vineyards in Castelnuovo (west-facing), Fosdinovo (northwest), and Fravizzola (south) planted in the 1960s on the north side of the Val de Magra at 150-200m on a mix of sedimentary and metamorphic bedrock and topsoil.

In the cellar, it’s whole-cluster pressed and naturally fermented in steel, followed by an additional five months in vat before bottling without filtration or fining.