Marco Tinessa Ognostro Bianco 2022

Whilst everyone is instagramming wines from Frank Cornelissen, take a sneaky punt over here. 

Marco Tinessa’s story is not your average Italian winemaking story. He has no family vineyards nor centuries-old roots. A bank manager in Milan, this project grew out of his obsession with natural wine and passion for the Taurasi region in Campania.

Marco and Frank forged a friendship in Sicily before the he set up the Ognostro label in Campania. Ognostro came to be when he bought a single vineyard of Aglianico near Montemarano. With the help of his mentor and friend, the iconic Frank Cornelissen, whose eponymous winery in Sicily has become a standard bearer for Italian natural wines, Marco decided on two grapes, aglianico for a red and fiano for a white. Just like his mentor, Marco prefers fermentation in clay amphorae or high-density polyethylene tubs as they “prevent any influence on the wine and the terroir”.

A biological philosopher in the vineyard, Marco harvests very low yields and takes an all around hands-off approach to winemaking. The wines are extremely limited in production, and have become cult favorites over the years. In addition to his spectacular Ognostro Rosso, Marco today produces a rich and textural Fiano, a fresh and vibrant Falanghina, and an entry level Aglianico.

• Fiano