I have had heard about her wines just by chance, during the visit of other vinery nearby, where I tasted an excellent Verdichio in bio quality from La Staffa and the young winemaker Riccardo Baldi have told me about incredible foreigner women, who owns the winery just a few kilometers from him and produces excellent wines .
It was not so easy to reach the place, because the way to aproach her winery is something like a goat´s path …I don’twant to say that it was the first time when the journey became a horror beeing navigated by GPS to some winery, but this case was too much .
I definitely did not want to risk no damage of the car , neither the car deeply seted in the ditch.
So that I headed there by walking. This fact have surprised Esther Hauser , because to trudge several kilometers by a walk at the temperature more than thirty degrees just for visiting a winery is from the other side something , what hardly any Italian would done. Especially if we conside that my friends use to drive even fifthy meters by car to buy cigarets at the nearest tobacco shop .
So she immediately recognized that I am also crazy .
The story of this winemaker reminds me the story of my favorite author of books about Provence Peter Mayle. Esther comes from Switzerland, from city Näfels nearby Zurich, and similarly to Mayle she was well paid manager at an advertising agency.
Once she came for holidays to Marche, and had a glance around to this beautiful country , which looks like a mosaic. She admired blue sky and sea faraway and the vineyards and oliva’s groves and she decided to stay here.
She bought the farm with a small vineyard ( less than 1 ha ) and oliva’s trees. She decided to try to produce wine, because , as she thought, it shoul not be so difficult .
As she told me , the first days the glass of homemade wine was very nice when she was drinking it with her partner the wine next to fireplace. But within one week the wine became a vinegar. The next year the situation was the same .Esther Hauser thus decided to gain experience and to study wine making process.At first she consulted it with her neighbour, and later on she invited an oenolog , famous Giancarlo Soverchio.
She have bought one hectare more…. and started to collect awards.
This woman is unbelievabely enthustiastic, she lives with all her heart and all soul for her wine. She works by herself at vineyard and wine cellar.
She told me an incredible story. When there was earthquake in Marche several years ago, carabiniers had come to convince her to leave the farm and evacuate to a safe place.
It was the time of fermentation of must and Esther absolutely refused to leave wine cellar , ( in Italian cantina ) without control in the period of wine production process . After that the carabiniers came to check her regularly, but she did not leave her house . It was several years ago, she later obtained the insurance payment for the house, but not for the cellar yet …She has a lot of plans about its increase and upgrade.
She shines out a paramount energy. To change the life in such a radical way is not so easy and she has all my admiration for her unbelievable courage and unfailing will to create something new. Her inovative aproach becomes to evident also in the fact that at the center of production of famous white grape Verdicchio she cultivates the red grapes.
From the grapes Montepulciano 85% the late harvest and Cabernet Sauvignon 15 % she created her famous wine il Ceppo. I have at disposal the 2014 year which was not so easy for a winemaker .
You could smell nice red fruits aroma and enjoy well balanced wine with good structure and integrated tanins .
Wine is ageing eight monthes in small barrels and minimum one year in bottle .
Her second excellent wine il Cupo is made from 100 % Montepulciano grapes from the old vineyard and old clones. There are notes of red fruits again, dried figs and a balsamic notes, an again structured wine with integrated tanins , adequately fresh with very pleasent finish.
