Denavolo

When Giulio Armani is not at La Stoppa, he makes his own wine. Denavolo is his personal estate in the Val Trebbia near Travo - the same Colli Piacentini hills, about five hundred metres of elevation, on clay-limestone soils. The name comes from the locality where the vineyards sit.

Around three to five hectares (sources vary), farmed biodynamically. The grapes are Malvasia di Candia Aromatica - the aromatic local Malvasia clone that is also the heart of La Stoppa's Ageno - alongside Ortrugo (a traditional Piacentine white) and Marsanne. All three varieties co-exist on the property and often find their way into the same blend.

The wines are macerated whites in the same register as Ageno, but Armani treats the Denavolo project as its own voice. Three bottlings, the hierarchy running from more maceration to less:

• Dinavolo - the flagship, a field blend of Malvasia, Ortrugo, and Marsanne with four to seven months of skin contact. Deep amber, aromatic intensity, tannic grip. The name is a play on "Denavolo" and diavolo (devil).
• Catavela - shorter skin contact (roughly a week), then months on lees. More immediately accessible despite the name suggesting otherwise.
• Dinavolino - the lightest expression, entry-level.

Native yeasts, minimal sulphur, unfined, unfiltered. A sibling project to Ageno, working the same grape in its own register.