La Gazzetta

Thank you to importer Louis/Dressner for this estate profile.

Trish Nelson was born in Australia but, following her parents' work as professors, grew up in various parts of Asia. By her early 20’s she was living in Hong Kong, travelling the world as a journalist for an architecture/design magazine. The work was interesting, but Trish quickly realized she was drawn to a slower pace of life. After much reflection, she decided to get a degree in sustainable agriculture.

A love affair with food and wine drove her to live and travel extensively in Italy and, during this period, she happened to meet Daniela and Antonio De Gruttola from Cantina Giardino. Giardino was Trish’s introduction to natural wine, exposing her to a network of like-minded, forward thinking growers throughout Italy; scrapping her original plan for a degree, she ended up working there for two years. Through Giardino, she later met Gianmarco Antonuzzi and Clémentine Bouveron of Le Coste, working there for a year at the same time as Joy Kull, another anglophone foreigner who now makes wine around the Bolsena Lake under the La Villana label.

During her time at Le Coste Trish met Jacopo Battista, an agronomist who’d purchased land in Orvieto a few years prior. Trish and Jacopo bonded over their mutual passion for biodiversity, and in due time she decided to join him in Umbria to start a mutual project called Ajola. The original idea was for Ajola to be truly poly-cultural, with a particular focus on agricultural experimentation. While unintended, wine became the primary focus, always through an experimental lens. For example: two cuvées might come from the same plot cultivated differently and/or picked a few weeks apart, with or without maceration. It made for a lot of cuvées and was a bit hard to follow, but the wines quickly found a following in Italy and beyond.

In 2018, Trish decided to start her own solo project, letting Jacopo continue Ajola. They remain great friends, still share vineyards, equipment and even a cuvée (more on that later!) To symbolize her new project being a direct extension of Ajola, Trish decided her own labels for La Gazzetta would be quasi-identical. This continues to cause confusion amongst geeky importers and savvy consumers already familiar with Ajola. No biggie...

Relocating from Orvieto to Lazio,  Trish now lives in a quaint home in Località Gazzetta high in the wooded hills above the village of Bolsena, farming grapes from three different distinct sites. Starting with a couple of hectares of scattered vineyards around the Bolsena Lake, some Ajola vines in Orvieto and another parcel an hour further into Umbria, Trish vinified her first vintage in 2018, about 4000 bottles, in the Ajola cellar. Her next couple of vintages were produced in a very modest “winery”, a room cut into a hillside with a couple barrels and a handful of tanks of varying sizes (when we visited, it was occasionally tricky to have us all in the space at one time). In 2020, she was able to acquire a large, modern cellar in Bolsena with her partner Piero, permitting her to vinify the entirety of her production for the first time in 2021.

As of this writing, Trish farms 7.8 hectares. Five of those are in immediate proximity to the Bolsena Lake, including an incredibly rare four hectare block all in one place. The remaining hectare is more traditional to the area in the sense that it consists of numerous scattered, small parcels of old vines. The vines here benefit from the special microclimate of this area. Lake Bolsena is one of Europe’s largest volcanic lakes and the combination of the volcanic soil and the unique wind patterns caused by the heating and cooling of this large body of water lends itself to the cultivation of grapes. These vines are planted predominantly with white grapes on sandy, volcanic soil.

Then are two hectares in Lazio but closer to Orvieto. Trish co-farms this with Ajola and her partner Piero. These produce the “Bianco Piero” and “Rosso Piero” but otherwise are mostly for Ajola wines. The soils here are also volcanic but from a much older geological formation than the Bolsena terroirs. A wine called “Rosso Commune” comes from this sector, a three-way collaboration between La Gazzetta, Ajola and another producer called Malauva.

Finally, Trilli is a vineyard an hour from Orvieto, deeper into Umbria. All the “Trilli” wines come from this vineyard but also the “Gazzetta Rosso” and “Rosso Castagno”. It totals four hectares, is more limestone heavy and much warmer than the Lazio terroirs. Trilli is mostly farmed by Ajola and Malauva, with the majority of the grapes going into their respective productions.

Trish works organically in the vines including using teas and composts made from indigenous plants. Her use of teas is specifically her attempt to cut back on using copper-sulfate (based on the very valid concern of heavy metals in the soil) despite the fact that it’s allowed in organic viticulture. She also has recently began incorporating cover-crops in her vines.

In the cellar, inspiration from Cantina Giardino’s free-form, improvised and experimental approach to winemaking is evident. Many wines are tied to a geographic location, for example the  “Trilli Bianco” or the “Fioraldo”, the latter named after a small parcel sold to Trish by an old farmer of the same name. Then there is the "G05", named after her favorite tank in 2018 and produced every year with different grapes/blends/ macerations. And of course the wines named after friends: Susanna, Piero… Some have incredibly sober labels with just the name of the wine, others dote beautiful art drawn by Trish’s sister… In all cases, the vinifications and blends can vary drastically vintage to vintage. In other words, it’s very hard to follow!

Three things we DO know: Trish is particularly fond of using chestnut barrels with her macerated white wines, S02 is never added and we trust her instincts to make the best wines she can each  vintage. Who cares if we don't know the grapes, blend or any vinification details!