Marco Sara

The historical roots of Picolit

Marco Sara’s origins are tied to Picolit, the first wine produced by the estate and a variety deeply rooted in Savorgnano del Torre. Tradition places its cultivation in Roman times, while the earliest cited documentary evidence is a testamentary deed from 1682 referring to a small wooden keg of sweet Piccolit wine. The grape has also been known as Piccolito, Piccolit and Piccolitto Friulano.

From 1762, Count Fabio Asquini da Fagagna, an agronomist who lived from 1726 to 1818, developed a profitable European trade in Picolit through Venice. Its destinations extended from London, Paris and Amsterdam to Moscow, the Imperial Court in Vienna and the Papal Court. Picolit began a gradual decline in the early nineteenth century, around the time of Asquini’s death, although it continued to appear in contemporary writings and exhibitions. G. Gallesio included it—under the names Uva del Friuli and Piccolitto—as the sole Friulian grape in his Pomona italiana ossia Trattato degli alberi fruttiferi.

Phylloxera reached Friuli in 1888 and brought Picolit close to disappearance, together with many other native Friulian varieties. Its modern recovery began at Rocca Bernarda in the early twentieth century. Giacomo Perusini re-established an old Picolit vineyard and worked on the variety’s inherently low productivity; his son, also named Giacomo Perusini, continued that work and restored the wine’s reputation through high-quality production that attracted the attention of enthusiasts and journalists.

Family vineyards and restructuring

Riu Falcon has belonged to the family since the 1960s. The vines in the Rive Colviere / Riu Falcon area date principally from the 1960s and 1970s, and the rented portion retains some of the estate’s older plants. A separate group of family holdings lies below Monte della Guardia. Roncut has been in the family for a long time, while other Monte della Guardia land was acquired in the 2000s. Part of this holding includes an early-twentieth-century farmhouse and remains to be renovated.

During the 2000s, older Monte della Guardia vineyards were removed so that the fragmented tracts could be rationalized and replanted exclusively with native varieties. The earlier mixed plantings had included Merlot and Gamay. Riu Falcon was likewise renovated to concentrate on the native varieties best adapted to its climate and soils: Schioppettino, Picolit and Friulano.

Organic transition and terroir-focused production

Synthetic vineyard treatments ceased in 2005. The formal process toward organic certification began in 2011 and encompasses the European protocol governing both viticulture and winemaking.

Picolit was the estate’s first wine. Its traditional local production through hand harvesting, natural drying and indigenous-yeast fermentation remains central to the cellar’s identity. Experimentation with Botrytis cinerea later extended to both Picolit and Friulano. Mufis, made when noble rot develops during drying, was produced in 2003, 2006, 2011 and 2017. The dry, botrytized Friulano Erba Alta was made in 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017.

Monte della Guardia became the first wine conceived explicitly as a Ponca wine. Its development followed separate vinifications and comparative tasting of fruit from the hills around the promontory, bringing soil, climate, native grapes and local viticultural experience together in a parcel-based expression.

Location and mesoclimate

The estate lies at Savorgnano del Torre in the municipality of Povoletto, in the westernmost and coolest sector of the Colli Orientali del Friuli. Its approximately 8 ha of vineyards and 4 ha of woods occupy hilly land whose overall stated elevation is 175–300 m, while the separately documented Rive Colviere / Riu Falcon tracts reach 350 m.

The Julian Alps and Prealps shelter the vines from cold northern currents. The Adriatic Sea lies about 45 km to the south in a straight line and supplies beneficial ventilation. Summers are cooler than in other parts of the Colli Orientali, without excessively high temperatures, and the day–night temperature range is pronounced. The wider denomination contains numerous microclimates, becoming cooler and more humid toward the mountains in the north and milder and drier farther south.

Monte della Guardia receives southern exposure on slopes reaching 30%. Daytime warmth is counterbalanced by cool night air descending from the nearby Julian Prealps and by the numerous woods surrounding the vineyards. Rive Colviere / Riu Falcon lies only a few kilometres away at the opposite end of the village, yet its soils and microclimate differ sufficiently to give the fruit a distinct expression.

Geological setting and Ponca

The hills of the Colli Orientali share a marine geological origin. The Friulian territory remained under the sea until roughly 35 million years ago; sediment accumulated on the floor of an ancient lagoon and later emerged as the sea withdrew. The Ponca formation itself began while these hills lay beneath the sea approximately 65 million years ago in three basins. The same formation connects five denominations: Colli Orientali and Collio in Friuli, and Brda, Vipaska Dolina and Slovenska Istra in Slovenia.

Ponca—also called Flysch or the Flysch of Cormons—is an Eocene rock complex formed by alternating layers of marl and sandstone of varying thickness. The marl consists of soft calcareous clay that absorbs water readily; the sandstone consists of hard, impermeable, calcified sand. This alternating structure drains excess water rapidly while retaining enough for vine physiology. It can impose periods of moderate water stress during the growing cycle, restrict vine vigour and keep production per plant low, increasing the concentration of extractive material in the grapes.

Because the stratigraphy and rock characteristics vary from hill to hill, each vineyard forms a close unit with its place. Ponca’s calcareous clays and calcified sands affect the mineral and organic constitution of the fruit and are associated with savoury character and longevity. Vine roots penetrate its layers to obtain water and nutrients without irrigation.

Terraced landscape

The Friulian term roncs describes hills cultivated since antiquity and shaped into successive terraces descending toward the plain. Beyond identifying a landscape form, the term has come to signify a hill suited to quality wine production. Preserving this inherited morphology and the integrity of the parent rock is part of the estate’s conception of terroir.

Site selection and plant material

Viticulture begins with sites considered naturally suited to vines: appropriate soils, exposures and moisture conditions allow plants to regulate themselves, reduce the frequency and intensity of treatments and make physiological ripening possible even in difficult years. Nearly all the vineyards adjoin woodland, supporting biodiversity.

The vineyards derive from massal selections intended to preserve old clones that originated or became acclimatized locally. The varietal focus is native grapes with a long history in Friuli. Traditional cappuccina training is used for vigorous Friulano and Picolit; Guyot is used for Refosco and Schioppettino.

Soil and ecosystem management

Autumn green manure, principally red clover, is used to revitalize the soil. Under-vine cultivation aerates the ground and recreates conditions favourable to microbiological activity. Ponca vineyards are not reshaped through major earthworks: renovation is deliberately limited so the physical and biological properties of the subsoil and the integrity of the parent rock remain intact. The roots obtain water within the Ponca layers without irrigation.

Synthetic products have not been used in the vineyards since 2005. The organic-certification process began in 2011 under the European protocol for organic viticulture and vinification. The broader aim is a healthy vineyard capable of resisting pests and feeding itself naturally, supported by humus-rich soil and a balanced ecosystem.

An agronomist provides technical advice, while daily observation guides decisions in the vineyard: familiarity with the soil, beneficial and competing plants, and cloud movements that signal rain is treated as fundamental practical knowledge.

Harvest decisions

Harvest is manual and generally lasts around one month, from mid-September to mid-October; work with noble rot can extend it to the end of October. Physiological maturity is assessed by tasting berries, with particular attention to skins and seeds. Seeds are considered mature when they become woody and crunchy. Picking dates are determined parcel by parcel because vine age, exposure and altitude produce different ripening schedules.

Botrytized fruit is harvested in successive passages, sometimes over several weeks. Selection may be made not only bunch by bunch but berry by berry, taking only fruit at the correct stage of noble-rot development. Picolit is normally hand-picked into crates around mid-September for traditional drying, while the botrytized Friulano used for Erba Alta is picked in successive passes in late September and early October.

General approach and fermentation starter

Native varieties are harvested by hand and vinified by individual parcel. A few days before the main harvest, several crates of grapes are picked to prepare a pied de cuve, which serves as the fermentation starter. Fermentations proceed spontaneously with indigenous yeasts, and cellar interventions are kept limited.

White grapes

White grapes are pressed as whole bunches without destemming and without maceration between skins and must. Only the free-run fraction corresponding to a 60% pressing is retained, limiting the extraction of herbaceous tannins and favouring finesse. Fermentation takes place with indigenous yeasts in cement tanks or wooden vessels, including 10 hl casks and barriques. Depending on the wine, ageing on fine lees lasts from 6 to 24 months with periodic bâtonnage.

Red grapes

Red grapes are crushed, destemmed and transferred to cement tanks. Indigenous-yeast fermentation lasts approximately 20 days with regular pump-overs. The wine is then separated from the skins, which receive a gentle pressing in a vertical hydraulic press. Free-run and press wine follow separate but otherwise equivalent ageing paths, and the decision to recombine them is made only at the end.

Red wines mature for approximately one year in barrels of different sizes and woods, with the vessel, wood species and ageing duration adjusted to the grape. Schioppettino rests in barriques or Stockinger vessels; Refosco and Franc mature in 10 hl Slavonian oak casks. The wine then spends about six further months in cement before bottling without filtration. Wine not selected for bottling is sold in bulk directly from the cellar to private customers.

Traditional Picolit process

Picolit is hand-harvested into crates around mid-September and moved to an attic for approximately 70 days of natural drying, without temperature control or forced ventilation. In December, bunches and berries affected by grey rot are discarded; the remaining fruit is destemmed and gently pressed in a vertical press. Cold static settling precedes indigenous-yeast fermentation. The wine matures in barriques and is bottled after approximately 18 months, followed by additional bottle ageing before release.

Noble-rot work

Noble rot requires alternating sunny, dry days and warm, humid, foggy nights. Correctly developed Botrytis cinerea removes water from the berries and concentrates sugars and aromatic compounds; fruit is rejected if the fungus is insufficiently developed or too advanced.

Picolit and Friulano are the two varieties used in the estate’s long-running botrytis work. In suitable years, noble rot develops on Picolit directly on the vine. When conditions such as excessive rain prevent this, botrytis is encouraged during the drying period and the resulting wine is called Mufis. Noble-rot incidence is 20–30% in Picolit and 70–80% in Mufis. Development during drying is not assured, so Mufis has been made only in selected vintages.

A particular Friulano vineyard is especially receptive to noble rot and supplies the dry Erba Alta. Its fruit is picked in successive passages in late September and early October; after pressing, fermentation and ageing take place in a 10 hl cask. The percentage of botrytized fruit changes with the vintage, and production is not possible every year.

Terroir is understood as an interdependent structure comprising soil, grape variety, climate and the human community. The winegrower is only one element within that structure; if the individual becomes the protagonist, the place becomes less legible. Native varieties are therefore treated as instruments through which the site speaks, rather than as ends in themselves.

The objective is to align exposure, altitude, slope, soil texture and chemistry with plant material adapted to the environment, while minimizing external actions that could alter the relationship between vine and microclimate. This principle shapes the use of massal selections, old local clones, individual-parcel vinification, spontaneous fermentation and non-invasive cellar practices.

The Ponca manifesto extends the same philosophy to geology. Producing territorial wine means cultivating and preserving Ponca vineyards, protecting the integrity of the ancient parent rock and transmitting it intact to future generations. Major changes to subsoil morphology are excluded; only careful renovation is accepted. The intended result is not primarily varietal display but an expression of geological character, savoury depth and capacity to age.

Organic farming is interpreted as more than compliance with a list of permitted and prohibited products. Its purpose is to cultivate healthy vines capable of resisting pests and obtaining nutrition naturally within humus-rich soil and a balanced ecosystem. Daily observation of plants, soils, herbs and weather remains as important as formal technical advice.

In the cellar, the desired qualities are artisanship, territorial identity, aromatic cleanliness and ripe fruit. Vintage differences are accepted as intrinsic: every season conditions the full production cycle, giving each year its own personality, structure and evolution.