Marco Cordani

 In the northeast of Italy, all roads lead to Piacenza.

Piacenza sits equidistant between Milan and Parma on the A-1 Autostrada. It is a 2 hour drive from Turin or Genoa. It sits at the confluence of the Po and Trebbia Rivers. Throughout its 2000+ year history, it is has been ruled over by the Gauls, the Romans, the Holy Roman Empire, the French, the Pope (Leo X), the Duke of Parma, the House of Bourbon, Napoleon, the Hapsburg Empire, and finally the Kingdom of Sardinia before finally being annexed into Italy. It is known for salt cured pork products: pancetta, coppa, and salame. The locals speak in the Piacentino dialect. Piacenza, and its surrounding hills, the Colli Piacentini, are 'old' Italy.

Wine in the Colli Piacentini has been a staple for as long as the city itself. Fossilized vine roots have been found in the area dating back to 2000 BCE. Wine was of course prevalent during the Colli Piacentini's Roman occupation. As rulers came and went, with its fantastic terroir and ease of access to so many different markets, wine has always been a chief product of the land. In modern times, Colli Piacentini was one of the earlier established DOCs, receiving its status in 1967. With this came several sub-regions: Gutturnio, Trebbianino Val Trebbia, Monterosso Val d'Arda, and Val Nur. Unlike the Colli Piacentini's famous neighbor to the northeast, Piemonte, whose wines are defined by their single grape and site, the Colli Piacentini sub-regions define wine based on the old tradition of field blending. The question of style is often left open to interpretation, which speaks to the sparkling wine cellar practice of ancestral method.

The wines of Colli Piacentini are wines made at the farm, from an ancient history and point of view, in an old and traditional way, and they are made for food.

Marco Cordani can be found in Celleri, roughly 30 minutes south of Piacenza. The Cordani story starts after World War I. Marco's great grandfather moved the family to Piacenza, and they starting planting vines in the Colli Piacentini area. In 1928 they bought the vineyards they had been farming. By 1947 the family had moved out of Piacenza to Celleri to live on their land. Marco's great grandfather passed a few years later and the holdings were split amongst four sons, with Marco's grandfather receiving the old vineyards.

“One of my first childhood memories is grandpa teaching me how to work the vineyards, how to tie the vines with willow and how to prune correctly.”

Marco's grandfather passed in 1974, but not before imprinting on Marco the traditional methods of working in a Piacentini vineyard. “Once you had to pick up the copper with a bucket all the way at the bottom of the hill and then walk your way up to spray the vines", says Marco. As Marco grew, he eventually left Celleri and headed to the sea. His parents managed the farm and vineyards, and it wasn't until 2000 when they were getting older, that Marco decided to return home.

Marco has committed himself to this 'old way'. The vineyards are farmed traditionally, organically- the way it has always been. He only ferments with native yeasts, as has always been. And the wines are finished with the ancestral method, to yield a slight natural effervescence, the style which has also always been.

In Colli Piacentini, the DOC Gutturnio is the flagship wine. This is the same for Marco, who makes ~275cs total of DOC Gutturnio Frizzante 'Magia'. Marco's second largest production is his single vineyard field blend bottling 'Labaia'- from the La Baia vineyard- which is located in Monterosso Val d'Arda. And if we are lucky, in a good year, there may be enough fruit for Marco to make his top cuvee, 'Oracolo', a macerated Vino da Tavola Bianco coming from La Baia, from which he may make anywhere from 60-100cs total.