Daniele Caracristi has always loved being outdoors. Born and bred in Gardolo, just north of Trento, he learnt to drive a tractor when he was eight years old. As a small child Daniele remembers resting his fingers in the nostrils of their horse, feeling her warm breath on his hands. He describes himself as a ‘born peasant’, who sees the vineyards as his garden. Once planted entirely with apple orchards, the family farm today harbours 2.3 hectares of Pinot Grigio that were cultivated in 2000 by Daniele’s father. Daniele wasn’t always convinced by this grape: during his agricultural studies he was fascinated by native varieties and it was only when he started working with Pinot Grigio that he began to understand the variety better, realising its potential to express the Trentino terroir. Daniele currently makes two wines: one white and one red, both from Pinot Grigio. The bunches grow in tight clusters with grapes that vary from pale pinkish-brown to deeper red hues and, although it is generally considered a white variety, it lends itself to a range of wines that can be anything from white to light red. As with the grapes themselves, the farm is multi-faceted. Daniele still produces apple juice alongside wine and is partly self-sufficient, with a vegetable garden that provides for himself and his girlfriend as well as some of the local community.
Cavallo Pazzo 2021, literally translated as ‘crazy horse’, was a tiny production of only 275 bottles. The grapes were harvested in mid-September before being de-stemmed, crushed and macerated for 8 days. The wine is aged in stainless steel for approximately 8 months, then bottled and finished with labels designed by Daniele’s dear friend, graphic artist Silvia Benedetti. A crisp, fresh, skin contact wine with grapefruit notes that can be drunk young or aged in the bottle.