Tucked away in one of the most picturesque parts of the Colli Berici is a small, family-run winery and brewery called Siemàn. It situated on the south-eastern side of these strangely shaped hills, near the small town of Villaga, just south of the more well-known town Barbarano Vicentino.
Siemàn in the local dialect means “six hands” and the name alludes to the three brothers – Marco, Andrea and Daniele, all in their mid-late 30s – who work there. A year ago, their father retired from his job teaching business management at the local university and he now lends a helping hand in the vineyards… although sometimes he still needs a bit of supervision… 😉
They have 9 hectares of land – 4 of which are vineyards planted with garganega, tai bianco, bronner, incrocio manzioni (for the whites) and tai rosso, barbera, turchetta, corbinona and pinot noir (for the reds) – centred around the winery, on the unspoilt hillside near Villaga.
The grapes are all hand-harvested, fermented spontaneously and for the last three years, they haven’t added any SO2. The brothers make a range of approximately 8 different wines: some aged in stainless steel, others in oak and one, even, in terracotta amphorae. Nearly all the white wines spend at least a day on the skins, but not more than 10. The resulting wines are fresh, light and easy-drinking.
Daniele: “I did the traditional sommelier course but I then discovered wines made with no added sulfites and then wines with skin maceration and so, since 2010 I only drink natural wines. There was no going back.”
Siemàn is not just a winery; there is a large room, completely separate from the winemaking facility, which has been dedicated to a craft brewery. Andrea’s passion for beer led to the start of a project to make beer which combine a base farmhouse or sour ale with local fruit (sometimes with blackberries, apples, or elderflower and but more often than not, with grapes.) Depending on the harvest, some of the grapes that would otherwise be destined for wine get added to the base ale and mature together for somewhere between 15 days and 3 months. Just like the wines, the beers are fermented slowly in steel or in oak barrels, with indigenous yeasts, never pasteurised or filtered and referment in the bottle.
Saverlo 2020 (Bianco Veneto IGT) – a blend of garganega and sauvignon blanc which spent one day on the skins, fermented in wood and saw out the winter in amphora. 3ml/l of SO2 declared on the label. At first a little reductive, but given time, it expands into a beautiful, mineral wine which expresses the fruit and the limestone soil. The nose is flinty; the mouth is soft but laden with ripe greengage and kept upright with a backbone of limestone saltiness.
My visit to the winery took place in May 2021. The blog post only got published in January 2022 when, finally, thanks to covid isolation, I had time to polish up a few unfinished sentences, uncrossed Ts and undotted Is.
If you want to read more about Siemàn, here are two links to their website and Facebook.
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