It’s precisely hard times that temper moral strength, the instinct that governs those who take to heart the land where they were born. The fateful 2020 is about to end, and it has put the whole world to the test. «We ourselves, wine producers, have been affected by it», confirms Sergio Marchisio. It’s no secret to anyone: the blackout of the economy, induced by the coronavirus, has made exports difficult, especially to the United States, an important item in the budget of Piedmontese wine. «But don’t worry: there have always been moments of crisis. And they are also useful to look inside oneself and grow again, improve oneself, find new reasons to renew faith in the future». A pioneer of biodynamic viticulture in the Roero, Sergio is a great lover of alchemy: he knows very well that the process that allows the grapes to transform into wine, through the “miracle” of fermentation, is profoundly alchemical. The alchemist, as well as the farmer, is accustomed to looking at the sky: and he knows that this year, Monday, December 21, the prelude to the “rebirth of the Sun” will be particularly emblematic, thanks to the spectacular alignment of two great planets, Jupiter and Saturn.

For lovers of astrology, the moment promises to be full of symbolic meanings: Jupiter and Saturn meet in what is called the “Great Conjunction”, just on the day of the solstice. «It’s a very strong conjunction», say astrologers, «because it decrees the beginning of a series of conjunctions in the Air element, after almost two centuries of conjunctions in the Earth element». The optimists are convinced that the world, after having faced terrible trials, is on the eve of a sort of rebirth. The alchemist-winemaker is the first to know that life (of wine) starts from the (apparent) “death” of the previous vital form, the one of the berry and of the bunch. «It’s not by chance – underlines Sergio Marchisio – that I wanted my amphorae to bear the mark of the Ouroburo, the snake biting its own tail, wrapped around the primordial egg». Clear message: circularity. Life, death and rebirth: a script recited every year by nature, along the sequence of the seasons. «It seems trivial, but it’s not: becoming aware of it helps to live better».

Apparently, it also helps the wine: it’s extremely harmonic, in fact, the evolution of Marchisio Family’s wines. Symbols follow one another, in a cellar where ceramic amphoras (homage to ancestral, Caucasian wine making) are gradually replacing wooden barrels. And Sergio Marchisio’s amphorae rest on triangular pedestals: almost as if past, present and future were married, alchemically, as in the case of the mythical “chemical wedding” capable of merging matter and spirit. Thoughts out of place? Not in the Maschisio Family, where – through the practices recommended by Rudolf Steiner – it’s as if wine united earth and sky in a single embrace, made of scents and memories. The biodynamic cumulus, the dynamized water containing the humus obtained from the horn manure: precious information that the vines receive. A delicacy that then repays in wonder, in the glass. This, yes, is a little secret: and the passionate followers of the Marchisio Family appreciate it infinitely. It goes without saying that on December 21st they too will toast, all together, greeting the imminent resurrection of the Sol Invictus.