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Giorgio Clai, back to his winemaking roots in Croatia

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Giorgio Clai, back to his winemaking roots in Croatia

Recently we spoke about a winery located in the Croatian part of Istria, Clai Wines. We will talk today with its owner and winemaker Giorgio Clai.

Good morning Giorgio and thank you very much for your collaboration. You grew up in Croatia but professionally you lived later in Italy in a restaurant business. Why did you leave that life for going back home and starting making wine?

It was love for this job. I was always making wine as a hobby so I decided to come back and do what fascinates me.

What is so special in this part of Croatia for doing the kind of wines you do?

Above all, 50 meters from Heaven you have as many choices as you want but the location is so beautiful that you can use any philosophy you want, as mush natural as possible as it is what interests me the most.

Tell us about the Malvasia Istriana, please.

The Malvazija is the most famous autochthonous variety that can be used in any philosophy and in any type of winemaking (fresh, aged, sparkling and Sv. Jakov). It is a variety with a big future.

We are big fans of Malvasia, especially when it is macerated on its skins, Why did you decide to use this vinification method?

Because it is the only way that I know but still if we look at this part of Istria and Northeast of Italy and Slovenia, everybody are macerating. It is our tradition.

How does this variety respond to long periods of maceration?

You should try Sv. Jakov, because it has no fixed rules for vinification, it can macerate for 4 months. I think there is no problem, it is almost recommended.

How do you like your Malvasia to be?

The best in the world.

If we could taste various vintages of your Malvasia, which differences would be in the way you have worked with it?

There is no difference in the way of making it. We are not making wine, we cherish it. But each vintage will show the conditions of the year, if it was easy or difficult and this is why we are writing the year of the harvest on the label.

We have tasted your Malvazija 2012 and it was really a wonderful wine. Which vintage are you more proud of?

It is always the last one because I think we miss 300-400 hundred years of experience. I think I learn something new every year.

2002 was your first vintage with your winery. Which things are you doing differently now after these years?

By some varieties, we have prolonged maceration periods because of high sugar levels. I think this was the only way to transform all the sugar. We must keep in mind that we are starting fermentation with spontaneous yeasts, which is the most important aspect. But as I already said, I learn something new every year.

Do your wines reflect your personality, your character?

Definitely.

Organic, natural, biodynamic agriculture… Which method are you more comfortable working with?

It is very difficult to answer because we are following all three ways because we believe that all connects in one system, on some way this is all the same. The most important thing is purism.

What’s the reason for using a Pied de Cuve?

I use it if I think that particular vintage needs it. The reasons would be high sugar, all difficult conditions for fermentation.

What kind of wine do you like to drink when you are not working?

Mine.

Thank you very much, Giorgio!!

Foto (c) Clai Wines

A personal view on Joško Gravner by Simon Woolf

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A personal view on Joško Gravner by Simon Woolf

Our adventure about Orange wines started last year with a glass of the wonderful Andreas Tscheppe’s Hirschkäffer 2014. Since then we have been doing a lot of research, study and of course, tastings. We have been very passionate about this style of wine and about the great people producing it and somehow involved with it. In the early days, we discovered a website which rapidly became our main source of knowledge and reference: The Morning Claret is run by Simon Woolf, who is even more passionate about Orange wines. Simon is columnist for Decanter Magazine and also serves as juror in wine tournaments across Europe. He is a reference for us and we can say now that www.themorningclaret.com and www.orangewines.es have become the main European websites about orange wines, if we are allowed to compare ourselves to him. In 2018 Simon will release the first-ever book on Orange wine history, Amber Revolution.

Simon Woolf

Simon recently visited Joško Gravner, the Godfather of Orange Wines in Friuli. Today we are proudly presenting his thoughts on his visit. Please welcome Simon Woolf, from The Morning Claret:

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Looking behind the scenes at a winery is always enlightening. Wineries are places of work – farms by any other name – yet many also double as tourist attractions, or at least see a constant flow of visitors: wine lovers, journalists and wine buyers.

There are those wineries where the well appointed tasting room is something close to a facade – a holding pen for visitors so they don’t need to see the chaos that lies beyond its polished wood doors. And then there are estates like Joško Gravner’s in Friuli Collio.

Every square centimetre of the Gravner’s property appears to be immaculate – not showy, or overdone, but beautifully kept and completely clear of clutter. This even holds true if you stray from the winery’s public areas into the family house.

There’s a considered, yet minimalist approach to everything, from the architecture to labelling and of course the wines. Gravner has spent the last two decades perfecting his stripped down, ultra traditional methods. The operation has the feeling of calm, of a well-oiled machine. But it wasn’t always so straightforward.

Abandoning all of the modern technology he’d bought during the 1980s, Gravner’s first commercial vintage of his now famous skin macerated style was 1997. These wines, with their deep amber/russet hues and profound autumnal aromas and complex flavours were nothing less than a shock to their public when they were released onto the market at the end of the 1990s.

Gambero Rosso published a famous article titled “Josko Gravner has gone crazy – please come back Joško” – a reference to how well loved this pivotal winemaker was for his barrique aged white wines in the 1980s and 90s. The article stated in no uncertain times that the new Gravner wines were a disaster – faulty, oxidised, undrinkable.

The coup de grace? Gambero Rosso had not been sent any samples of the wines, and had not tasted them. Gravner admits that he shed tears over the incident. And there was worse to come. The article had been published just as the new vintage was being shipped to customers all over Italy.

Partly due to the bad press, more than half the winery’s customers returned their shipments without even trying the wines.

It’s hard to imagine now just how vehemently the wine world turned against Gravner during this period. But Joško, a man for whom the word “uncompromising” could have been invented, didn’t balk.

Not only was the new direction for his wines maintained, there was more to come. Gravner finally took delivery of the first batch of Georgian qvevris (amphora-like vessels) in 2001, gradually converting his entire production to qvevri by 2005.

Then in 2012, after many years of planning, Gravner grubbed up the last of his vineyards still planted with international varieties. Now, the estate has only the area’s indigenous Ribolla Gialla and the noble red Pignolo – plus a few token rows of the Georgian Rkatsiteli grape (“It’s a homage to Georgia”, says Joško.)

Gravner’s inability to compromise has cost him a few friendships. The close working relationship with near neighbour Stanko Radikon (who died in 2016) broke down around 1995, although the two reportedly met for the last time just a few weeks before Stanko died.

He refuses to work with six other wineries in Oslavia who founded the “Ribolla di Oslavia” association to promote their local grape, as in his eyes their continued new planting of international varieties makes no sense if Ribolla is acknowledged to be the best.

A 20 year working partnership with superstar pruning consultants Marco Simonet and Pierpaolo Sirch has also finally run its course. Gravner’s latest project involves new plantings of his own American rootstocks next to ungrafted Ribolla Gialla vines – the two will be conjoined in a couple of years time. “It all starts with the roots” he says “and ultimately pruning can’t help you if the roots aren’t any good”.

Gravner is now 65, but looking forward to many more years of perfecting his craft. He’s increasingly aided in the cellar and the vineyards by his younger daughter Jana, while elder daughter Mateja is the estate’s sales, marketing and communication engine – and public face. Photos of Gravner’s son Miha, who died tragically in a motorbike accident in 2009, are prolific in the house and the winery.

“I’ve made a special agreement”, he smiles, looking heavenward, when I ask what the future holds, “I’m going to live until I’m 100”. He does however add slightly grimly “but just in case it doesn’t work out, I’ve also reserved a burial plot”.

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Simon Woolf’s forthcoming book “Amber Revolution” tells the full story of Gravner’s journey and much more about orange wine in Friuli, Slovenia, Georgia and beyond. It can be pre-ordered now on kickstarter.

Photos (c) by Simon Woolf

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Franco Sosol: “The character of Ribolla Gialla is strong, determinate and hard.”

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Franco Sosol: “The character of Ribolla Gialla is strong, determinate and hard.”

Recently we have talked about the Italian winery Azienda Agricola Il Carpino. Today it is time to talk to Franco Sosol, co-owner and winemaker.

Buongiorno, Franco, and thank you very much for your collaboration. Being in Oslavia, Ribolla Gialla is the queen of your wines. What is so special about this grape?

I like this question about Ribolla, because Ribolla is really the queen of my wine. To be precise, we are from Oslavia and have the vineyards in Oslavia but our winery is in San Floriano del Collio. This grape is so special because it has always been cultivated in our area of Collio, because Ribolla find its natural habitat here.

How is the work of the Associazione Produttori Ribolla Di Oslavia, whose objective is promoting the Ribolla di Oslavia (macerated Ribolla Gialla)?

Together with other five Ribolla Gialla producers, we founded this Associazione many years ago. All of us have the same point of view even if there are six different styles to vinify the Ribolla but always with maceration. The aim of the Associazione is to promote macerated Ribolla around the world

You produce wines with the Ribolla both fresh and young and also macerated and aged. Does this grape works for other style of wine?

We produce both fresh and macerated because some vineyards are not so old and because there are different soils. In the old vineyard where the soil is more fertile, the grape is oriented for fresh wine.

We make the same also for the Pinot Grigio, Malvasia, Friulano and Chardonnay.

The Ribolla for the Riserva is macerated on the skins over a month. How do you determine when it is ready?

I began with a short maceration with Ribolla and I increased the length of time each year till I established that more or less 40/50 days is good because the skin of Ribolla is deep and a shorter time of maceration is not enough. On the contrary, too long time in my opinion, the wine loose its elegance.

The other white varieties of the Il Carpino line are also macerated on the skins. How each variety adapts to this vinification method?

All the other varieties adapt very good, but it is not necessary that the time of skin contact is so long as for the Ribolla, because the skin of Pinot Grigio, of Friulano and of Malvasia are thinner as compared to the Ribolla. We have determined that between 7 and 10 days we can extract all the substances they have in the skin.

Why did you decide to start macerating the white wines in contact with the skins for long periods?

At the beginning, of course. In the 1970s it was very common for every winemaker here to do maceration with the skins. I didn’t know which ones would be the consequences of a longer maceration on my grapes so I began with short periods.

Il Carpino line is going through an ageing of oak, then steel, then oak again. What is the reasoning for this process?

After harvest the grape is destemmed and the process of maceration in open oak barrels begins. When the maceration is over the wine goes to Slavonian oak botti and after one year. Then we move it to steel for a natural process of decantation that lasts around seven or eight months and after that we bottle with absolutely no filtration.

Which of the five white wines in the Il Carpino line (Chardonnay, Ribolla Gialla, Malvasia, Pinot Grigio and Friulano) works better?

I am very proud not only of Ribolla but also of Malvasia, because we have a Malvasia vineyard that is more than 70 years old. It has a very low production but its quality is superlative, always constant though much reduced

Tocai Friulano and Chardonnay are varieties that I am in love with.

How does the Malvasia work here in Oslavia?

Malvasia works very good here, it is a strong variety and takes very well the high temperatures but it suffers a bit the wind because when the grape is mature the acids can begin to fall down.

Do you plan to go fully organic viticulture?

Absolutely, we are already in the process to convert to it.

How is your work in the vineyards?

In the vineyards I don’t use chemical fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides or herbicides. My aim is to preserve the balance of the ecosystem and the environment. Our intervention in viticulture and winemaking is just the minimum possible. We cut the grass by hand and also the harvest is done absolutely by hand. We do not use irrigation.

In the cellar we don’t use bentonite, we don’t filter our wines, we just add a minimum dose of sulphites and we always following the lunar calendar.

How do you manage to show the character of the Ribolla in your wines?

Work with the Ribolla is very difficult because if a grapegrower has never worked before with Ribolla is quite hard for him to manage it. Ribolla has a high level of production and needs much attention especially when it is young but also both during the pruning and also the thinning but especially it is hard to determinate when it is mature to harvest.

The Ribolla gives me a lot of satisfaction. The character of Ribolla is strong, determinate and hard. It can be drank also after a strong red wine and in the meantime it is delicate, it is good to combine with every kind of food, from salami, to meat and red meat, and it is absolutely fantastic with a cake or chocolate. Ana always says that Il Carpino Ribolla is similar to its winemaker.

What is your aim to show in the Il Carpino line wines?

I try to work hard and to follow my vineyards as if they were my children, and maybe more, as they say, because they have to be strong and to make the best grapes possible, in a natural way. When I see people appreciate drinking our wines, I am happy and my goal is reached. I have nothing else to show.

What kind of wine do you like to drink when you are not working?

When I am not working, many times I prefer to drink the wine of my friends and colleagues because no one of us ever finishes studying and understanding the world of wine that goes around us.

Grazie mille, Franco!!

foto (c) Azienda Agricola Il Carpino

Il Carpino, the human side of wine

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Il Carpino, the human side of wine

A recent business trip to Italy made me realize how wrong I was about some wine things. I have always been appealed to those wine professionals who when they go to visit wineries they are offered a wide array of old vintages, something that they can only do in very rare occasions and that are off-limits for the rest of us winelovers and wine writers. In this particular visit I was mentioning before I met four extraordinary persons who made me realize my mistake: Stefano Novello and his wife Laura from Azienda Agricola Ronco Severo in Prepotto, Udine (whom we will talk about in a later article) and Ana and Franco Sosol from Azienda Agricola Il Carpino in San Floriano di Collio, Gorizia. I saw that it is not about old vintages, it is not about twenty different bottles of wine, it is not about expensive wines. Plain and simple, it is about time. Time is our most precious possession in our passage through life and when you are able to share time with special people as the Sosols, soon you realize how fortunate you are.

Our visit to Il Carpino started nice and easy at 16:00, around a table with an easy conversation about wine and our passion for wine. Then one or two bottles, just to start tasting their production, more conversation, couple more bottles, more conversation, more wine, some cheese and prosciutto, a sparkling wine they are producing in such low quantities they don’t sell it, a visit to the cellar, tasting from the barrels, visit to the vineyards, then more conversation, few pictures, and off to dinner with them. In the dinner you meet their friends, start talking and joking with them, shariong a glass of wine with them, the restaurant owner offers his homemade Cabernet/Merlot wine and some local Picolit and by the time you go home is past 23:00. The Sosols made a winery visit a great day and an unbelievable experience that you will not ever forget. They shared with us time, quality time, passion, love and friendship. Who wants 1993, 1984 or 1966 when you can have this kind of friendship over a bottle of 2013?

We have talked in a previous article about Il Carpino and their wine production. The Sosols have a biodynamic non-interventionist philosophy, leaving the wine express itself. Their white wines of the Il Carpino Line are all macerated and we were joking that once you go macerated, you don’t go back. And it is true. We tasted all their Il Carpino Line, their top wines. For starters we tasted Vis Uvae (skin-macerated Pinot Grigio for ten days with an ageing of 12 months in botti di Slavonia, 11 months in steel tank and 24 months in bottle) and Exordium (skin-macerated Friulano for ten days with an ageing of 12 months in botti di Slavonia, 11 months in steel tank and 24 months in bottle). These two wines were spectacular, with the Friulano being so addictive. The maceration is very delicate and it does not give the wine a strange color or taste but rather some amazing sensations when tasting it.

Next we enjoyed the Il Carpino Chardonnay (skin-macerated for seven days with an ageing of 12 months in botti di Slavonia, 11 months in steel tank and 36 months in bottle), the amazing Il Carpino Ribolla Gialla. This 2012 vintage had a maceration of 55 days, then it stayed 24 months in oak and 24 months in bottle.

I’m in love with the Malvasia of Friuli and the Il Carpino Malvasia (skin-macerated for seven days with an ageing of 12 months in botti di Slavonia, 11 months in steel tank and 24 months in bottle) is just a wonderful wine. Elegant, delicate, very well balanced and with a breathtaking nose.

Franco disappeared for a moment and when he came back, he brought a bottle of Il Carpino Sauvignon 2007. He said they still had ten bottles of this vintage. Now it is just nine. Did I use before the words amazing, wonderful, and elegant? Well, this wine sums it all. It is such a wonderful wine.

Then it was time to go to the cellars, where Franco gave us samples of Friulano 2016 still in the barrels. The first sample came from a big Eslavonian botti. The second one from a 225-liter French oak barrel and the third one from a small concrete egg. It was very interesting to see the difference between each vessel and how it affects the wine. For us the botti Friulano was just a few centimeters ahead of the other two. We also tasted Ribolla Gialla 2016. Simply awesome.

Then we went to the vineyards. It was very special feeling to be surrounded by Ribolla Gialla grapes in the heart of Oslavia and also being able to see the way they work there. The big Guyot training system, the canopy management and the rows full of grass covering the local Ponca soil.

During dinner, we finished the tasting bottles and Ana and Franco brought another special wine: Il Carpino Rubrum 2009, the last vintage of their single-varietal Merlot wine. We love Merlot and the only thing to be said about this wine is that our nose was inside the glass for we don’t know how long. Time stood still while we enjoyed this wine.

It was an amazing time the one we shared with Ana and Franco Sosol. As we said before, this was way more than just a simple winery visit. It was much more than that. It was sharing a wonderful day, enjoying a common passion about wine and building a great friendship. After all, these are the things that matters most in life.

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Dario Prinčič, Orange wines craftmanship in Oslavia

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Dario Prinčič, Orange wines craftmanship in Oslavia

Recently we spoke about Azienda Agricola Dario Prinčič, located in Oslavia (Gorizia), Italy. Today we will talk to the owner and winemaker Dario Prinčič.

Buongiorno, Dario, and thank you so much for your collaboration. Where does your passion for wine come from?

I grew up in a place where the vineyard was part of every day’s work. My passion comes from the love of earth/soil and from the heart.

How is your winemaking philosophy?

My winemaking philosophy is that natural is the best, therefore, we avoid adding chemicals when and wherever possible. In my opinion, the conventional wines are not proper wines.

Why did you choose to produce white wine doing long periods of maceration with the skins?

We do long maceration periods because we can find a lot of natural preservatives in grape skins, which are produced naturally, during the maceration. That’s why we add small quantities of sulfur only during the bottling.

When do you know the wine is ready after being in contact with the skins?

The wine is usually ready after ageing in wooden barrels for 2 years, however, it also depends on the vintage.

Which variety works better with the long maceration period?

Ribolla Gialla.

You produce single varietals with the Ribolla Gialla, Friulano, Pinot Grigio and you use the Chardonnay and Sauvignon in the Bianco Trebež and Favola blends. Why not a single varietal with the Chardonnay and the Sauvignon?

Because those are of international variety and in my opinion they taste better together than separately and also, to avoid having too many labels/varieties of wine.

With your reds you produce single varietals with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. How come you don’t elaborate a red blend?

Mostly due to the fact that Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon are very different wines and their characteristics do not express well in a blend.

Your Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the few single varietals we can find in Friuli. You leave it up to 45 days macerating with its skins and then 6 years ageing in oak. Which are its main characteristics?

The Cabernet Sauvignon is a very difficult grape that produces a very vegetable wine and that is not what I want from my wines. However, in good vintages that are aged properly, this grape is able to express all its complexity optimally. The 2011 vintage, which is the last year of Cabernet Sauvignon, proves it.

How is your work within the Associazione Produttori Ribolla Di Oslavia?

This group of winemakers wants to promote and valorize Ribolla Gialla because it is our indigenous grape and that gives us a lot of satisfaction, therefore, the collaboration is positive.

How is your Ribolla Gialla wine?

“Thankfully it’s made with grapes.” We do our best. It’s up to you to judge.

Which are the wines you are most proud of? And vintages?

I’m very proud of Ribolla Gialla (2001, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2011 and 2013) and Favola 2008 (cuvee of 6 white wines made in a year we had peronosphora – fungal disease).

What kind of wines you like to drink when you are not working?

Unfortunately, I do not like/drink a lot of wines outside of work because good, natural (sincere) orange wines are very rare.

Grazie mille, Dario!!

Naranjo, the Orange wine coming from Chile

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Naranjo, the Orange wine coming from Chile

Located about 150 kilometers south of the Metropolitan Region of Chile, the Colchagua Valley is one of Chile’s especially renowned wine areas for their red varietals. The area of ​​the Colchagua Valley, a word that means “site of small lagoons” was the southern boundary of the Inca Empire and later became the area where the most powerful families of the country built their large mansions, some of which are still standing.

Colchagua is one of the transverse valleys of Central Chile, whose land is washed by the waters of Tinguiririca river and where the cities of San Fernando and Santa Cruz, two of the most important of the Sixth Region are located, and some localities of tourist interest, such as Chimbarongo, Lolol or Pichilemu.

Colchagua Valley is characterized by the excellent quality of their land, a perfect microclimate for growing grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon, which represents an important part of all Valley vineyards, as well as the Carmenere variety.

The Mediterranean climate of Chile presents warm and dry summers and cold and rainy winters, so much appreciated by the vineyards. The growing season is generous on sunny days and with great thermal changes between day and night. The vineyards are strongly influenced by the cooling effect of the Pacific Ocean and the Humboldt Current. It originates in the icy waters near the Antarctica and moves northward along the west coast of South America. The effect of the Humboldt current collision with the coastline of northern Chile produces clouds and fog. However, little or no precipitation occurs.

A unique geography and natural barriers such as the Atacama Desert in the north, the Andes Mountains in the east, the Patagonian Ice Fields and Antarctica in the south, and the Pacific Ocean and the Cordillera de la Costa in the West, protect Chilean vineyards from disease and give rise to a wide range of soil types. This vast mosaic of terroirs makes possible the elaboration of a great diversity of wines.

It is this region of South America also propitious to suffer earthquakes, given the displacement of the tectonic plates of the zone. An earthquake is always synonymous with destruction. We see images on television of how cities, towns, and roads remain after suffering their effects. However, on some occasions, although the less, after an earthquake comes something new. And this is what happened in Chile in February 2010. The family home of the parents of José Ignacio Maturana, over a hundred years old built with old techniques and Chilean clay tile, was completely destroyed. It was then, when they had to start from scratch, life as a family changed and they decided to elaborate high-end wines. Maturana Wines emerged.

Under this label, José Ignacio Maturana, an agronomist and one of the most renowned winemakers of Chile, produces a wine called MW Maturana Wines, an assembly of Carmenere (80%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (20%) whose grapes come from the town of Marchigue in the Colchagua Valley, an area where the Carmenere offers a great result. The grapes for this wine are harvested and destemmed by hand and fermented in small deposits to highlight the characteristics of the grape and its origin. 20% of the wine is aged in concrete eggs and later in a new 500-liter French barrels and the rest in 300-liter barrels of second and third use for a total period of 14 months. After bottling, the wine is left resting for at least 14 more months.

Another wine is Lucas Maturana Wines, a single varietal Cabernet Sauvignon from the Colchagua Valley that is aged in French oak for 10 months.

José Ignacio has another line of wines that come from vineyards of more than 70 years where all the works are made by hand and under the organic rules. Only a small dose of Sulphur is added at the time of bottling in order to protect and maintain the wine. These wines are fermented with their native yeasts and without adding any oenological additive. The most important of these wines from our point of view is that they are Orange Wines, wines macerated on their skins for a period of time:

Maturana Semillon Wines is a single varietal Semillon. 20% of the wine ferments on the skins for three and a half months. The rest is fermented as a traditional wine. The vineyard is located in the coastal area of Paredones.

Maturana Naranjo Wines is a monovarietal of Torontel macerated on the skins for six months and a half. The fermentation of this wine is in open barrels. The vineyard is located in Loncomilla in the Maule Valley.

In 2011 José Ignacio and his family created Puente Austral Wines brand, in the Colchagua Valley. Under this label, they produce different wines with international varieties such as Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenere and Merlot, distributed on different lines: Entrada, Selección, Reserva Privada and Gran Reserva elaborated with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. They also make a sparkling wine with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

Soon we will talk with José Ignacio Maturana about his wines and his wine philosophy.

Azienda Agricola Zidarich, the true character of the Vitovska in Carso

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Azienda Agricola Zidarich, the true character of the Vitovska in Carso

In our trips to the Italian region of Friuli Venezia Giulia we have discovered some extraordinary producers elaborating wonderful wines with the local grape varieties. We have discovered Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon wines in Gorizia, Ribolla Gialla in Oslavia and Malvasia in San Michele. Going a bit southeast we arrive to the land where the Vitovska reaches its zenith. Here in the Karst this local variety offers its best wit producers such as Beniamino Zidarich. His is a small winery founded in 1998 and producing around 20,000 bottles per year. Beniamino started with half a hectare and he expanded it to the current 8 hectares he owns.

Azienda Zidarich is located in the town or Prepotto, where a thin layer of red limestone soil covers a structure of stone, which takes a huge amount of work and resources to work with. The area is often affected by the cold and violent Bora, a local wind that often exceeds 120 km/h. Here the climate is continental and benefits from the mild weather that blows up from the Adriatic Sea and the protection of the Pre-Julian Alps. The vines are planted at an altitude of 280 meters above sea level, trained using the Guyot and Alberello methods and with a high density of 8,000 to 10,000 plants per hectare that yields around 50 quintals of grapes. The single vineyards are rather small, but cultivated with maximum attention, concentration and care.

Zidarich has a 1,200 square meter underground cellar carved five stories down into the rock. It is composed of a stone-vaulted aging room, storage rooms, work areas and a tasting room on the top floor with views of the surrounding vineyards and the sea in the distance.

As we are passionate about Friuli white wines, we can’t go without talking about Zidarich wines. Beniamino works really well with the Malvasia and the Vitovska.

With the Vitovska the produces an IGT Venezia Giulia one, called Green Vitovska that he ferments and macerates with its own skins in open vats without ontrolling temperatures and using native yeasts. Then it goes to big tonni of Slavonian oak for 13 months

The Vitovska is also IGT Venezia Giulia. The difference with the first one is that instead of 13 months in oak it stays 24 months.

The V. Vitovska Collection comes next, the Riserva one. The number V (5) was added to the label because represents harmony and balance in cosmic numerology. This wine is only made in exceptional years. The grapes ferment and macerate on the skins for 20 days and then the wine is aged four years in Slavonian oak barrels. The wine is particularly beautiful with a strong mineral flavor and acidity.

Vitovska Kamen. Kamen means stone, and that’s where this wine makes its process. Zidarich owns a stone vat made of 5 different pieces where fermentation and maceration occurs. The must is macerated with the skins for about 18 days, after which the wine is transferred into oak barrels for the aging process.

Really an exceptional work with the local Vitovska varietal.

The Malvasia DOC Carso is another of the great wines of Zidarich. After destemming of the grapes, they macerate and ferment on the skins in open vats without controlling temperatures and using native yeasts. The malolactic fermentation takes place in large oak barrels and the aging is in medium and large barrels of Slavonian oak for two years.

Prulke IGT Venezia Giulia is the house white blend, produced with 60% Sauvignon, 20% Vitovska and 20% Malvasia. The wine stays two years in the cellar before it is released into the market, most of them in Slavonian oak barrels.

With the red grapes Zidarich produces also very interesting wines. The local Terrano-Teran variety is the king, with a single varietal wine IGT Venezia Giulia wine with 20 months of oak. Zidarich Rosso is a blend of 40% Merlot, 40% Terrano and 20% Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso.

Ruje is another of the IGT Venezia Giulia red blends, in this case 90% Merlot and 10% Terrano. The aging is in small, medium and large barrels of Slavonian oak for two years, followed by a year in the bottle.

And if you think there is nothing else, nope, not correct. We also have a spumante produced with Teran. Zi-Da. The wine has a second fermentation in the bottle and stays in the cellar for one year in Slavonian oak.

We will talk soon to Beniamino Zidarich about his wines and his winemaking philosophy.

Photos (c) Azienda Agricola Zidarich

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Abel Mendoza, the story of a fighter

Aitor Trabado
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Abel Mendoza, the story of a fighter

Originally published in miamigoelvino.com 17/08/2017

This is the story of a fighter. Not a fighter in the style of those wearing shorts and gloves, but rather about those who are dogfighting in a daily basis to carry out their projects, their dreams, their life. Sometimes we think that people who have built a name themselves in their trade have everything easier, that their days of struggle have been left behind in the memory lanes. Far from that situation, these same people must keep on fighting. Not just only for them but also for those coming after them.

That fighter is Abel Mendoza.

Abel is one of those people who have been doing what they like for years, pursuing their passion day after day. Before him, his father dedicated himself to wine, and before him, his grandfather did. Always working in the vineyards as it had to be done. Taking care of the vines, taking care of the grapes, with the least possible intervention so that the vineyard offers the best possible. Abel has always cared about the grape expressing the terroir it comes from and showing the difference between plots. Because the wine is made in the vineyard and that’s where you have to work harder, always with your bare hands.

Abel’s is a constant struggle to make the wine the way he likes. But above all, to do it the way his ancestors did it before him, because that has always been the way to make wine and although there are nowadays other elaboration methods, nobody should limit or prohibit the winemaking style that has always worked. On the other hand, an artist like Abel has, so to speak, his audience, his faithful fans, those who are in love with his wines. And they are not just a bunch. What we want is Abel’s wines remain as before, the wines of Abel, and not just another wine tasting like the neighbor next door’s or the neighbor next town’s. Homogenization is never good, much less when we speak of author wines like the ones Abel does where the difference in expression is key.

Abel and his partner Maite have 20 hectares of vineyards spread over 42 small parcels that are located in three villages protected by the Sierra Cantabria ridge: San Vicente de la Sonsierra, Abalos and Labastida. Practically all plots are planted in the traditional way, with different varieties together. In some plots, there are four planted varieties, in some others there are up to six, white and red altogether. In some plots, the varieties are mixed in the rows, in others each row is one variety, so when the vintage arrives you have to be very attentive looking at each vine to see if your grapes are ready to pick up or on the contrary, you have to wait. Abel has someone who does the harvest knowing what needs to be done, but he is also present for the last decision.

In these plots Abel has five types of soil. There are sandy soil, red clay soil, stony soil … and all of them showing their own character. On the outskirts of San Vicente there is a small plot that Abel is working on under biodynamic methods, resulting in a completely natural wine. As he says: “From the vine to the glass.”  This plot is Tempranillo 100%, one of the few that is a single varietal vineyard. Guardaviñas 2015 is simply a wonderful wine. A very elegant and very balanced wine, very easy to drink. It is a test that Abel does to see how this plot reacts to natural labor by following the phases of the moon. From what we have been able to taste, the test is a success.

Bodega Abel Mendoza Monge is a winery known because of its red wines, such as Selección Personal or Grano a Grano, but if something is well worth discovering, that’s its white wines. Abel makes really good white wines. Exactly 6 white wines are made. Five are monovarietales: Turrontés, Malvasia, Garnacha Blanca, Tempranillo Blanco and Viura . Then we have an assembly of them all: Abel Mendoza 5V. The vinification of the single varietals is very similar, aging in new French oak barrels for five months. We had the opportunity to enjoy their Turrontés 2016. Fascinating, a very tasty wine with a production of around 2,000 bottles a year, like the other white wines.

The visit was a great time with Maite and Abel because they made us see things from another point of view and with more perspective than what we are used to. He talked, he explained a lot and that is always appreciated. Maite was a great host as well, with her friendliness and hospitality during our visit.

It is very easy to say what others have to do while you are behind a computer, but without any doubt, people like Maite and Abel Mendoza are those who make the world of wine still alive and worthwhile to enjoy their work, as much as it makes them continuing their fight day-by-day. We can only encourage them to continue this way, in their struggle and without giving up their efforts. After all, is not it what life is all about?

Azienda Agricola Occhipinti, natural wines in Sicily

Aitor Trabado
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0
Azienda Agricola Occhipinti, natural wines in Sicily

The Route 66. If there is any, this is the most iconic road we know. Chicago to LA, crossing the United States in a pink Cadillac or in a Harley Davidson Electra Glide. Probably the most dreamed road trip ever. This is a not too old route, paved during the XX century for allowing cars and good to go from one coast to the other. In the 1950s and 19060 it acquired its current iconic aura though nowadays it only survives in small patches of asphalt as it has been deviated or covered by bigger wider faster highways.

Iconic or not, Route 66 has just a few decades of existence. There are other roads, maybe not that famous, but still important due to its significance. In Sicily, Italia, there is another route that in contrast with the USA 66 it was first laid as a narrow stone path three thousand years ago. A country road connecting Gela to Kamarina going through Cerasuolo di Vittoria hills and from Caltagirone it continued to Catania and Lentini. This road is the SP68. One might think that there is nothing special about this road but if you know about Sicily wine then you know about this road. It crosses Fossa di Lupo District where one of the most special wineries in this island is located: Agricola Occhipinti, where owner and winemaker Arianna Occhipinti produces her world-known wines.

Agricola Occhipinti is in the Southeast corner of Sicily. The first vineyard the winery acquired is in C. da Fossa di Lupo, followed by another farm, Bombolieri in 2012, located on the County Road 68. It is a vineyard with a limestone soil and twenty-year-old vines. Bombolieri was an abandoned vineyard that Arianna had to recover. This way, having to work from the ground up and alongside her uncle, Giusto Occhipinti, owner of Sicilian Azienda Agricola COS, she learned the proper way of laboring the vineyards and winemaking. She always worked in a natural way, though her wines are not certified as natural, as she believes: “It is a natural wine as I think about myself, that’s how I am. It comes from my sensibility towards true things and from my gestures, my loving attentions. A wine that, in its harmonies and roughness, talks about the land where it comes from and about me. That’s why I think that the natural wine, besides being a good wine is also a human wine.”

Arianna works with autochthonous grapes only: red varieties Frappato and Nero d’Avola and white varieties Moscato de Alessandria and Albanello.

Frappato is a single varietal Terre Siciliane IGT wine. 30 days of skin maceration. A part of it stays in concrete and another part in large 25hl Slavonian oak barrels for 12 months and then one extra month in the bottle.

Siccagno is a single varietal Nero d’Avola Terre Siciliane IGT wine. 30 days of skin maceration. Ageing is 22 months in large 30hl Austrian oak barrels and two extra months in bottle.

Using Frappato and Nero d’Avola Arianna produces Grotte Alte, a Cerasuolo Di Vittoria DOCG. After 30 days of skin maceration, the wines ages for 32 months in large 25hl Slavonian oak barrels and four extra months in bottle.

The designation of the country road names Arianna’s two other blends that’s instead of oak barrels grow into becoming a wine in concrete vats. Both are Terre Siciliane IGT. SP68 Bianco uses Moscato de Alessandria and Albanello and SP68 Rosso is produced with Frappato and Nero d’Avola. After 15 days of maceration on the skins, the wine is kept in 85hl concrete vats where it stays for seven months. After this period, the affinamento in bottle lasts one extra month.

Arianna also produces a Passito Terre Siciliane IGT using Nero d’Avola called Passo Nero and a Grappa di Frappato.

As we mentioned earlier, all the wines come from organic agriculture and the utmost respect for the biodiversity of the land. Arianna believes “in a respectful relationship with the land: a direct contact that turns into profound knowing. I think there is a balance, the one of nature that has to be respected in every gesture: from cultivation and pruning -that has to be tidy, clean- to the processing of the fruit. Balance that can be summarized in the following words: from a good grape comes a good wine.”

Soon we will talk to Arianna about her wines and winemaking philosophy.

Photos (c) Azienda Agricola Occhipinti

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Orange wines, a new class of wine?

Aitor Trabado
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0
Orange wines, a new class of wine?

When we talk about alcohol beverages, we divide them into beer, wine and spirits. Then we split wines into still, sparkling, sweet and fortified. Then we can classify wines by their color (white and red) and we can classify them in terms of elaboration and vinification method (rosé).

Attending to color in still wines we have red wines, which are those coming from the must of red grapes. Normally this must has no color; therefore, we need to include a period of maceration with the skins for acquiring color, tannins, structure, etc. This timespan may go up to four weeks (sometimes even more). This is, of course, in general terms as we can find exceptions across the globe. White wines, on the other hand, are wines coming from white grape varieties and in cases from red varieties that are processed as white ones. The grapes are harvested, destemmed, pressed, fermented, aged (or not), and then bottled.

Let’s talk now about elaboration and vinification methods. Rosé wines are those made with red grapes whose must goes under a short period of maceration with the skins to pick up some color. This period can be as less as only a few hours, and we have seen cases in which this maceration time is only eleven minutes. Thus, we call rosé when a must coming from red grapes has its color changed because of this short period of contact with the skins. We do not call it pale red or light red because in fact its color is rosé. Moreover, we don’t call it dark white, because it is not white at all. We can conclude, then, that red wines or white wines are usually byproducts of grapes of the same color, whereas rosé wines are a byproduct of the vinification method.

What happens when we apply this same red or rosé vinification method to the must coming from white grapes? In this case, the white wine acquires all the tannins and color living in the skins. The skins are, in fact, the carriers of some nutrients and substances that along with acidity help wine to live longer. The color of the must will also change, turning from clear white to dark gold to amber to orange, depending on the variety and the maceration time. Some varieties are adept to a few days of skin contact; some others can take as long as six, nine or even twelve months. In the end, due to the vinification process, it will be a wine that resembles more a red wine rather than a white wine. Keeping this in mind, is it not confusing we still call this style of wine a white wine?

This way of making wine is not something new. It was the method white wine was produced in the Caucasus area few millennia ago. Wine was stored and preserved with the use of the skins in the same way Port and Madeira wines were fortified to endure the trip by sea to England. Back then, they did not call them white wines but rather they were known as amber wines, a name that later changed to orange wines, though both names are still in use nowadays. Yet we include the orange wines under the name of white wines. Let’s imagine this situation: You go to your favorite restaurant, you ask for a white wine and they serve you an orange wine. How would you feel about it? Would you think they are deceiving you? It will not be the typical white wine you can find in the supermarket or when you go around for tapas. It is a wine with a very different profile. Should not it be called by another name? Now imagine the opposite: you read the wine list looking for an orange wine and you only see red, white and rosé headers. You ask the sommelier about it and he says you can find them at the bottom of the white wines. Is it not misleading? The same situation occurs when we go to a wine shop and we have to ask where the orange wines are, since they are acknowledged as white wines and are buried in the back of the white wines shelf, past the red wines, past the rosé wines and before the sparkling wines.

Rosé wines are not a subcategory of red wines, as it seems logical should it be the case, being wine made using the must of red grapes going under a short maceration period. They are a class on its own. Shouldn’t it be the same case for orange wines? Is it not a wine class with the right to have its own name? Is it not about time to refer to them by their rightful name, and not white-wines-elaborated-with-a-maceration-time-on-the-skins?

There is an ongoing discussion about the skin maceration period we need to consider for saying certain wine is an orange wine. Some say it should be four days, but if a rosé wine is already classified as rosé after only eleven minutes of maceration on the skins, why should you wait longer for an orange wine? And even if we say it takes one or more days, I think it’s about time we start calling orange wines by their name. It is already clear to me that far from being a passing fashion as some people say, this style of vinification is here to stay. There is an increasing number of producers doing orange wines, not only in Georgia where this style was born, but also in Greece, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Austria, France, United States, Canada, Peru, Argentina, Portugal and Spain, among other countries.

In view of the current situation of the wine market, where diversity grows every day in terms of winemaking, elaboration methods and technology use, a time has come in which the classification of the three traditional types of wine, white, rosé and red, do not cover all this ample diversity. The time for orange wines to have their own space in a wine shop or a wine list is here. It doesn’t seem right to still include them at the bottom of a white wines list. They have come to form an entity on its own. We should acknowledge that.

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