Wine importing comes with its fair share of occupational hazards—air and car travel, food poisoning, overconsumption, exhaustion—but only recently, on a visit to the vineyards of Tenuta Anfosso, did I truly fear the clenched fist of death might strike me down with its morbid wrath. Here in the heart of the Rossese di Dolceacqua appellation, minutes from the Mediterranean coast just east of the French-Italian border, vineyards reach a dizzying grade of 60%, and climbing the near-vertical winding roads to walk the rows felt like quite possibly the last vineyard visit I would live to experience. Côte-Rôtie has got nothing on this, I observed through gritted teeth.
     Fortunately, Alessandro Anfosso maneuvered these perilously steep, sharp turns with almost-too-casual dexterity, and soon enough we found ourselves amid the terraced Poggio Pini vineyard, examining gnarled Rossese vines planted in 1888 by Alessandro’s great-grandfather. After phylloxera ravaged the area’s vineyards, the Anfossos replanted and continued to make wine from their tiny holdings, but the region never got close to equaling the roughly three thousand hectares under vine it enjoyed in the mid-nineteenth century, which at the time gave Dolceacqua more vineyard area than the Langhe.
     Alessandro’s ancestors persisted, periodically repairing the dry-stone walls by hand and carrying on the ancient tradition of viticulture contained within this small, mountainous enclave of western Liguria. When his father retired after a staggering seventy-seventh harvest, Alessandro took over with the goal of valorizing this extreme terroir and recapturing the appellation’s historic prestige by embracing traditional methods of farming and winemaking that had been slowly phased out over decades of mechanization, modern enology, and the emergence of commercial market trends.
     Dolceacqua’s Rossese is well worth the backbreaking labor required to farm it. While it is grown throughout Liguria, typically producing light, fruity reds for immediate consumption, Rossese takes on a different persona in this dramatic, unforgiving terrain. Still light on their feet, the wines are deeper, finer, and longer-lived than other expressions of the grape, featuring a fascinating array of floral, peppery, smoky, and savory suggestions highlighted by a crunchy mineral finish.
     Our first shipment from Tenuta Anfosso arrived this year, and we invite you to explore these Ligurian wonders. Luvaira showcases the concentration achieved from vines planted in 1905, with an ample mouthfeel and wilder, almost meaty aromatics rounded out by the sweet, earthy fragrance of faded rose petals.
     While I consider myself fortunate to have survived my vineyard visit with Alessandro, I hope you’ll agree: Anfosso’s Rosseses really are to die for.