Marina Danieli

Origins in Buttrio

The Danieli family’s connection with Buttrio began in 1870, when Filotimo Danieli arrived in the town. Together with his wife, Anna Beltrame, he cultivated agricultural land and vineyards and established the family’s wine-growing activity. The business has passed through five generations.

A broader agricultural and hospitality estate

The present estate encompasses 80 hectares of vineyards, arable land, woods, vegetable gardens and orchards. During the past 39 years, the family expanded its activities beyond agriculture and wine into hospitality. The resulting estate includes the winery; Scacciapensieri, a country house and restaurant; Villa Dragoni, a historic villa used for accommodation, meetings and events; and vineyard-based visitor experiences. The hospitality properties collectively offer 26 rooms.

The contribution of Giorgio Grai

For approximately 30 years, Giorgio Grai worked closely with the estate as winemaker, consultant and mentor. He made some of the property’s wines himself, including a Cabernet from the 2012 vintage. Following his death in November 2019, the family commemorated him through one of his final wines made at the estate.

Changes in the cellar and vineyards

During the 2019 harvest, the estate increasingly relied on spontaneous fermentations with indigenous yeasts for most wines. It also removed fermentation products of animal origin from the cellar, replacing them with plant-derived alternatives such as potato and pea proteins for must clarification.

In 2020, parcel studies led to the release of a limited-production Merlot from Clama, an amphitheatre-shaped vineyard planted around 1940. That year also brought the first moth and grape-moth damage recorded in four years in the Potocco Pinot Grigio vineyard, prompting stricter bunch selection both in the vineyard and at the winery.

On 3 November 2020, the business joined the collective mark Io Sono Friuli Venezia Giulia, whose company-level gold designation recognises regional agri-food businesses committed to environmental, economic and social sustainability, local value creation and supply-chain transparency.

Preserving K2

In 2021, the family launched a crowdfunding project to safeguard K2, a steep Pinot Grigio vineyard planted in 1973. The campaign sought to replace dead vines with new plants carrying genetic material from the old vineyard, preserving the source of the estate’s ramato-style Pinot Grigio. The campaign exceeded its target, enabling the purchase of new young vines for subsequent grafting. Planting began in spring 2022.

Current generation

The fifth-generation estate is led by Letizia. Its wines are grown, vinified and prepared for sale within the family business, while the winery remains integrated with the estate’s agricultural, culinary and hospitality activities.

Viticulture follows a certified sustainable approach under the Sistema di Qualità Nazionale di Produzione Integrata (SQNPI), with biodiversity conservation and protection of the land treated as central objectives.

The estate uses targeted vineyard treatments and seeks to limit their environmental impact. Vineyard and cellar selection are intensified when fruit health requires it, as in the 2020 Potocco moth attack. Harvest timing is decided by variety and ripeness: Pinot Nero is normally among the earliest grapes, while red varieties such as Schioppettino may remain until the end of the harvest. Some grapes, including portions of Pinot Grigio and Verduzzo destined for drying, are picked by hand.

Organic fertilisers are applied in autumn before winter dormancy so vines can replenish reserves for spring. Green-manure trials in young vineyards use sown plants to improve fertility, add organic material, aerate deeper soil layers through their roots and encourage nutrient exchange with vines without relying exclusively on machinery.

Pruning and cane bending are adjusted by variety to balance quality and crop volume. The pruning team trained with Simonit & Sirch and uses respectful cuts intended to preserve sap flow and vine vitality. Spring work includes directing new growth into the future leaf wall and bending fruiting canes according to each variety.

Beginning in 2021, the estate tested dry-farming techniques in response to heat and drought. When soils become dry, compact and cracked, shallow ploughing is used to move the soil and reduce dependence on irrigation. The K2 preservation project also safeguards old genetic material by grafting new plants with material from the vineyard’s surviving 1973 vines.

Seasonal conditions are monitored closely. Frost in early April 2021 caused minor bud damage without compromising the crop, while cold, rainy weather delayed growth and disrupted flowering. The hot, dry second half of that summer slowed vine development until rain helped complete ripening. In 2022, heat and severe water scarcity produced fewer bunches with small but concentrated, juicy berries.

Grapes are vinified entirely within the family business. The winery prepares for harvest by completing bottling, cleaning and servicing the press, crusher-destemmer, pumps and fermentation tanks, and planning separate vinifications according to grape maturity and seasonal conditions.

Fruit may be selected both in the vineyard and again at the winery. After the 2020 Potocco moth attack, compromised berries were removed before grapes could enter the press. Some Pinot Grigio is harvested by hand, passed rapidly through the crusher-destemmer and given a short, temperature-controlled skin maceration. Other accounts describe cold skin contact for K2 Pinot Grigio and light skin maceration in the press for Friulano. Soft pressing and temperature-controlled fermentation are also documented.

Most wines have been fermented spontaneously with indigenous yeasts rather than selected yeasts since at least 2019. Fermentation and maturation may take place in stainless-steel tanks. The cellar also uses large wooden casks and French oak barriques for selected lots. Chardonnay has been partly fermented and matured in French oak barriques; Sauvignon used in a white blend has also received barrel treatment. A Charmat process is used for the Chardonnay-based Brut Mus.

Following the 2019 harvest, red wines were racked to refine tannins and develop roundness. Young whites matured on fine lees with continuous agitation, using the lees as natural sources of texture, stability, aroma and body. New wines are tasted almost daily through winter to follow their evolution, with numerous members of the business taking part.

Animal-derived fermentation products were eliminated in 2019. Plant-derived materials, including potato and pea proteins, replaced them for clarification of must before fermentation. Verduzzo has been hand-picked into small, shallow crates and dried until late November before vinification. The cellar’s approach adapts to vintage conditions; the concentrated, healthy fruit of 2019 required very few corrective interventions.

The estate defines itself through continuity between family, land and production. Five generations of cultivation underpin an approach in which grapes are grown and transformed within the same business, while the winery, agricultural property and hospitality activities remain connected.

Its stated environmental objective is to preserve biodiversity and the integrity of the land through SQNPI-certified sustainable production. Practical expressions include targeted treatments, organic fertilisation, green manure, dry-farming trials, respectful pruning, preservation of old genetic material and the replacement of animal-derived cellar products with plant-based alternatives.

Vintage variation is treated as an essential part of the work. Vineyard ripeness and weather determine the character and timing of each vinification, and cellar plans remain open to modification as the grapes develop. Regular tasting, technical study and experimentation are presented as ways to improve quality while allowing each variety and vineyard to retain its identity.

Family continuity also informs the K2 project: replacing dead vines with plants derived from the old vineyard was intended to carry its genetic character into future generations. In hospitality, the same philosophy appears as an emphasis on regional food, local suppliers, rural landscapes and individually designed experiences.