Questo vino
Vineyard and terroir
Grigio in Grigio comes from an old Pinot Grigio vineyard at Corona, a hamlet of Mariano del Friuli in Gorizia province. Its 1.4089 ha extend across part of cadastral parcel 1387, part of 1389/1 and part of 1389/4 on maps 1, 3, 4 and 5. The vineyard faces south, with rows oriented northwest–south.
The soil has a calcareous mineral base rich in iron sesquioxides and poor in organic matter and nutrients, slowing vegetative growth and limiting production. The most recent vines were planted in 1990. Planting density is 4,630 vines per hectare, with spacing of 2.70 × 0.80 m. The unilateral Guyot system leaves four or five buds per cane; light summer trimming balances leaves and clusters. No fertiliser is used.
Grapes
100% Pinot Grigio from the Isonzo del Friuli DOC zone. The vineyard uses SO 4 Kl. 31 Op. rootstock and the R6, 52, 53, 457 Antav., 49 and 207 Fr. selections. Yield is 4,200 kg/ha, less than 0.9 kg per vine.
Vinification
The grapes remain on the vine until the end of October, drying naturally before they are picked by hand. Only the best extra-ripe, healthy grapes are selected and destemmed. Spontaneous fermentation takes place with the skins for four weeks, following a red-wine-style method, without added yeasts, enzymes or sulfites and without temperature control. After fermentation, the wine remains on its skins for another seven months.
Ageing
After racking, the wine matures on its lees for six years in untoasted wild-cherry casks, with frequent bâtonnage. Before bottling it is racked into stainless steel, where remaining lees settle naturally. It is bottled without filtration and continues to mature in wooden cases holding 500 bottles. The broader description of the wine also refers to lengthy ageing in barrels made from wild cherry and wild pear.
Tasting profile
Prolonged skin contact gives the wine an intense copper colour. Persistent ripe-fruit aromas are softened by the extended stay in cherry wood, producing a bold character that deliberately falls outside conventional white- and red-wine models.
Vintage notes
Produced only in selected years, when the growing season provides the conditions required for this extended skin-contact and ageing regime.
Label / history
The wine was conceived as a more individual expression of Pinot Grigio after years of experimentation with late harvesting, prolonged skin contact and lengthy maturation in local fruit woods.
