In partnership with FINE+RARE, master pruner Marco Simonit returns to his Friulian roots to launch a fine wine project to conserve and bottle the most precious vecchie viti across the world’s finest terroirs. Introducing L’Età Più Bella or With Age Comes Beauty.​

Known as the 'vine whisperer', Marco Simonit stands at the forefront of vine conservation and viticulture, consulting for many of the world's top vineyards - from Chateaux Ausone, Angélus, Haut-Bailly and d'Yquem in Bordeaux and Domaine Leroy in Burgundy, to Champagne Houses Louis Roederer and Moët & Chandon, plus New World icons including Almaviva, Spottswoode and Shafer. Together with his crew of 'Pruninguys', Simonit employs his unique vine training system (based on the Guyot method) assessing each vine individually with meticulous attention to detail, and undertaking highly-targeted interventions.

With carefully selected vineyard sites and vinification led by winemaker Christian Patat (of Miani and Ronco del Gnemiz fame), the launch of L’Età Più Bella is set to put the hillsides of Friuli firmly on the fine wine map, while also raising awareness of the importance of protecting the world’s vieilles vignes from disease as well as the prevailing threat of uprooting due to economic unviability.​

The importance of preserving old vines lies in their superior ability to produce grapes with a true blueprint of their terroir and consistent characteristics vintage after vintage, irrespective of climate variation.​ These factors allow for greater sustainability, without over-reliance on irrigation, chemical treatments or resource-intensive replanting programmes.

Comprising three limited production cuvées, available immediately from our stock in the UK, explore the story behind the 2018 L’Età Più Bella collection...