Marco Tinessa – Ognostro: Aglianico (and Fiano), Reimagined

Marco Tinessa’s Ognostro is one of the most personal and compelling micro-winemaking projects in southern Italy, one that quietly defies convention and brings new elegance to Campania’s noble grapes. Based in Milan but deeply connected to his roots in Irpinia, Marco is not a traditional vigneron, he is, in many ways, a one-man band. And that’s exactly what gives his wines their soul.

Originally a financial journalist, Marco’s passion for wine gradually evolved into a calling. Without a family estate to inherit, he started from scratch, renting vineyard parcels in Montemarano, one of the highest and most esteemed zones in Taurasi, known for producing Aglianico of immense depth and age-worthiness. He began making wine in 2007 under the name Ognostro, a nod to the dark, inky nature of Aglianico, and to the old southern Italian word for ink itself.

With no formal training, Marco sought guidance from winemakers he admired, including natural and traditional producers in France and Italy. His approach is intuitive and hands-on: organically farmed fruit, spontaneous fermentations, no filtration, and minimal sulfur. The wines are vinified and aged in small facilities, often borrowed or shared, until bottling, which gives the project its signature sense of raw intimacy.

What sets Ognostro apart is its stylistic restraint. While Aglianico is often known for its power and tannin, Marco’s wines show a lighter touch, more ethereal than explosive, with lifted aromatics, fine structure, and unmistakable volcanic tension. It’s Aglianico viewed through a Burgundy lens: soulful, site-driven, and meant to evolve.

The flagship wine, Ognostro Rosso, is pure Aglianico from old vines in Montemarano, aged in large neutral oak and bottled unfiltered. But the project has grown slowly and thoughtfully, now including Ognostro Bianco, a small-production Fiano from high-elevation sites in Irpinia. The white undergoes spontaneous fermentation and is vinified with gentle skin contact, resulting in a textured, mineral wine that is both vivid and deep, less about fruit and more about energy and place.

Production remains tiny and intensely personal. Each bottle is a window into Marco’s evolving vision, shaped by intuition, humility, and a deep respect for the land.

Marco Tinessa’s Ognostro is not about scaling up or fitting in. It’s about expressing Irpinia’s native grapes, Aglianico and Fiano, with honesty, restraint, and a quiet sense of purpose. In a world of loud wines and louder brands, Ognostro whispers, and that whisper lingers long after the glass is empty.

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