Mastery of Manzoni: Elisabetta Foradori

There are a small number of winemakers out there who defy any attempt at categorisation, apart from superlatives. Elisabetta Foradori is one. She's the darling of the Italian biodynamic wine movement, an early convert to amphorae, and a peerless exponent

(Almost) every week, I select an orange wine (a white wine made with extended skin contact) that grabbed my attention. View the whole series here.

There are a small number of winemakers out there who defy any attempt at categorisation, apart from superlatives. Elisabetta Foradori is one. She's the darling of the Italian biodynamic wine movement, an early convert to amphorae, and a peerless exponent of long skin maceration for white wines. But it feels clumsy to describe Foradori's output with such limiting terms and techniques.

I've long been acquainted with the amphora-fermented Nosiola, a monumental wine which retains its elegance and character even after 250 days on the skins. Tasted blind, the 2012 made the top 3 out of 72, in our Decanter tasting of orange wines last year. But today I have its Fontanasanta twin Manzoni Bianco in my glass.

Manzoni Bianco may sound like a vermouth or a cocktail bar pianist, but actually it's a 1930s cross of Riesling and Pinot Blanc, created by namesa…