Adrien Stevens – Ticino
Adrien Stevens is a rising star on the Ticino wine scene who was awarded “Swiss wine rookie of the year for 2024” by Gault Millau. He is 40 years old and has had fantastic previous winemaking experience at Domaine Nicolas Joly in the Loire Valley, and more recently with Christian Zündel in Ticino. Perhaps no surprise then that he produces his wines biodynamically and vinifies them with as little intervention as possible.
His recently-purchased winery sits on top of a sunny hill in Monteggio, Malcantone, where his fabulous Pensieri Senza Pensatore Merlot is grown on old vines planted between 1960-1990. His “Blu di Notte” Merlot comes from old vines planted on limestone and clay soils in Castel San Pietro further south in the Mendrisiotto region of Ticino. These special soils are very similar to those in Pomerol, Bordeaux, and give this Merlot a wonderful mix of freshness, opulence and structure. His excellent Erbacanta Chardonnay also comes from the Mendrisiotto region.
Also important to his style is the long, slow (60 day) maceration and fermentation he gives his Merlot grapes, without crushing them first. This gives maximum purity and depth of flavour without releasing any bitter tannins into the wine. Both his Pensieri and Blu di Notte Merlots are then matured for 14 months in Burgundy barrels, then bottled with no filtration and very little SO2.
