Ronchi di Cialla

Medieval origins

Winegrowing in the Cialla valley has a documented medieval history. Records preserved by the Cathedral Chapter of Cividale, which owned property in the valley during the Middle Ages, show that its wines were valued from the 13th century and were sometimes used to pay duties and rents. The earliest written reference to Schioppettino dates to 1282, in connection with a marriage celebrated in Albana. The variety was locally known as Sclopetin or Ribolla Nera, and its scarce wine was sought for its rarity and quality. It was historically confined to only a few square kilometres around Cialla and Prepotto, where local experience associated its origin with particular finesse and peppery spice.

The valley’s steep, favourably exposed terraces date to the periods of the Patriarchate of Aquileia and the Republic of Venice. Local tradition attributes their construction to Turkish prisoners. Documents from 1496 record that the Honourable Cathedral Chapter of Cividale purchased Cialla wine annually.

Nineteenth and twentieth-century decline

Pietro di Maniago included Schioppettino in his 1823 Catalogo delle varietà delle viti del Regno Veneto. Phylloxera devastated the narrowly distributed variety in the mid-19th century. The small production area offered little opportunity to preserve unaffected material, and Schioppettino was almost completely destroyed. Growers subsequently considered replacing native grapes with French varieties that were easier to cultivate and more productive, a debate documented in issues of the periodicals of the Associazione Agraria Friulana published between 1890 and 1930.

In 1877 the grape was mentioned as Ribolla Nera and identified as characteristic of Friuli and the Udine area. Poggi formally established Ribolla Nera as a synonym for Schioppettino in his 1939 ampelographic atlas. Although its cultivation remained embedded in the memories of Cialla residents until about 1960, by the end of that decade it had nearly disappeared. Authorities considered it extinct and omitted it from the list of varieties legally permitted for cultivation.

1970–1972: foundation and recovery of Schioppettino

Paolo and Dina Rapuzzi founded Ronchi di Cialla in 1970 as a deliberate choice of life rooted in the land. From the outset, they committed the estate to preserving Friulian native grapes and producing wines intended for long ageing. Schioppettino was central to that project because Cialla had long been regarded as one of its principal habitats.

With help from Bernardo Bruno, then mayor of Prepotto, the Rapuzzis located approximately 60 surviving Schioppettino vines. They selected the best buds from their canes, propagated new cuttings and, within two years, established an initial vineyard of 3,500 vines. The work involved both practical difficulty in recovering propagation material and a serious legal risk: because the variety was unauthorized, the new planting could have led to criminal proceedings and compulsory uprooting.

1976: legal rehabilitation and Risit d’Aur

In 1976 cultivation of Schioppettino was authorized again. That year Paolo and Dina received the inaugural Risit d’Aur, or Barbatelle d’Oro, created by the Nonino family of Percoto. The award recognized their rational restoration of the ancient variety in its Cialla habitat despite regulations that had treated it as extinct. Luigi Veronelli served on the jury and became an advocate of both the recovery story and the resulting wine. The recognition brought the grape to the attention of leading national journalists.

1977–1978: first harvest

The first Schioppettino harvest took place on 18 October 1977. On 14 March 1978, a notarized report recorded that 3,500 vines occupying 2 hectares had yielded 35 hectolitres. At that point the wine was undergoing malolactic fermentation before a planned six to eight months in 225-litre oak barrels. The estate also began using barriques for white wines in 1977, describing itself as the first Italian producer to adopt this natural stabilization and maturation method for whites.

1983–1995: recognition of Cialla and Schioppettino

In 1983 the Ministry of Agricultural Resources recognized and geographically delimited Cialla for Schioppettino di Cialla, Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso di Cialla, Verduzzo di Cialla and Picolit di Cialla. Schioppettino entered the Colli Orientali del Friuli DOC in 1989.

In 1990 a bottle of Schioppettino di Cialla was sold at Sotheby’s for 750,000 lire. The wine was also served on multiple occasions at official lunches of the Italian Presidency of the Council of Ministers.

In 1995, under Law 164, the production rules for the Cialla subzone were published in the Gazzetta Ufficiale no. 278/95. The recognition covered five native grapes—Schioppettino, Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso, Ribolla, Verduzzo and Picolit—and established the framework for age-worthy wines from the valley. Ronchi di Cialla became the sole producer in this subzone making wines from all five authorized native varieties. Ciallabianco, the valley’s traditional blend of 60% Ribolla Gialla, 30% Picolit and 10% Verduzzo, was also recognized as DOC Cialla in 1995.

2001: auctions and the first topping-up programme

On 12 January 2001, Schioppettino di Cialla 1986 and 1988 were auctioned by Christie’s in New York alongside prominent Italian and French crus. Ronchi di Cialla then issued its first formal call for the topping up of bottles, covering Schioppettino di Cialla 1985 and Verduzzo di Cialla 1983. On 19 and 20 May, a limited number of estate-owned and privately owned bottles—including bottles returned from abroad—were opened and topped up in the presence of a notary.

2002–2003: twenty-five years of Schioppettino and a second topping-up

On 8 June 2002 the estate marked the first 25 years since Schioppettino’s revival. A selected commission tasted six vintages spanning that history: 1977, 1980, 1983, 1985, 1990 and 1998. The tasting focused on the variety’s capacity to develop over very long periods.

A second topping-up operation took place on 10 May 2003 in the presence of a notary and the Rapuzzi family. Bottles of 1977 Schioppettino, Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso, Picolit and Verduzzo belonging both to the estate and to private clients were treated.

2015 and the second generation

In 2015 Ronchi di Cialla obtained Biodiversity Friend certification for its entire managed area and all its production. The certification grew from Ivan and Pierpaolo Rapuzzi’s naturalistic and entomological expertise.

Pierpaolo and Ivan, the founders’ sons, represent the generation raised among the vines. Both trained as agricultural experts and graduated in Food Sciences. Together with Paolo and Dina, they continue the family enterprise by combining inherited Friulian wine culture with scientific knowledge, native-variety conservation and long-ageing production.

Setting and topography

Cialla is a small, secluded valley in the eastern hills of Friuli, within the commune of Prepotto. Its axis runs broadly from north-east to south-west—more precisely east-north-east to west-south-west—and differs from neighbouring valleys whose main axes are approximately north–south. The Chiarò, a permanent mountain stream, drains the valley together with its right-bank tributary, the Prenech, and several smaller tributaries.

Elevation rises from approximately 140 metres at the stream near the valley entrance to about 600 metres near Monte Plagnava at the head of the valley. Steep north-facing slopes support temperate rain forest, while gentler, sunnier south-facing slopes have traditionally carried agricultural activity. The valley’s historic vineyard terraces occupy favourably exposed positions around the hills, and its orientation allows sunlight to reach both flanks.

Cialla lies approximately 30 km from both the Upper Adriatic coast near Grado and the peaks of the Julian Alps, including Monte Mangart at 2,677 metres and Monte Montasio at 2,754 metres. Mild Upper Adriatic air meets the Julian Prealps here. The valley is enclosed by woodland dominated visibly by chestnut, oak and wild cherry, while warm, ventilated days and cool nights favour slow ripening. Olives can also grow in its sheltered microclimate.

Forest and biodiversity

Forest covers approximately 90% of the wider Cialla territory and strongly shapes both its landscape and microclimate. Northern slopes and the upper valley carry pre-Alpine and montane communities including Tilia cordata, Fagus sylvatica, Corylus avellana, Quercus pubescens, Q. petraea, Q. robur, Acer species and Betula alba. Sunnier southern slopes and the lower valley contain more Mediterranean communities, including Quercus species, Castanea sativa, Fraxinus ornus, F. excelsior, Ulmus, Ostrya carpinifolia, Juniperus communis and Ficus carica.

The rich insect fauna includes protected species such as Cerambyx cerdo, Morimus funereus, Osmoderma eremita and Lucanus cervus. These are protected under annexes of the EU Habitats Directive; Cerambyx cerdo and Morimus funereus are also identified as vulnerable in the IUCN Red List.

Wind, rain and temperature

The broadly east–west valley axis follows the dominant Bora and Borino winds. Cialla is consequently more ventilated and drier in atmospheric character than adjacent areas despite receiving more precipitation. Average annual rainfall is about 1,550 mm, compared with 1,360 mm for the wider Friuli Colli Orientali consortium area. Rain falls throughout the year, with peaks in late autumn and spring.

Mean annual temperature is approximately 13.4°C, compared with 14°C across the consortium area. During the April–October growing season the average is 17.8°C, versus 18.4°C in surrounding winegrowing zones. Spring and autumn can bring day–night temperature variations of up to 20°C. The cool, forest-influenced mountain conditions delay harvest by an average of one to two weeks relative to neighbouring vineyards.

Geology and soils

The south-eastern Julian Prealps are dominated by flysch, a marine sedimentary sequence formed by rhythmic deposition from turbidity currents. In Cialla this consists principally of alternating marl and sandstone, with more resistant carbonate megabeds. The valley between Cialla and San Pietro di Chiazzacco contains deposits historically termed the Flysch di Masarolis and now grouped more broadly with the Paleocene–Eocene Flysch di Grivò or di Stregna.

Major calcarenitic megabeds include those of Monte Ioanaz and Monte Staipa. The latter appears at higher elevations, approximately along the 400-metre contour, while Monte Ioanaz lies lower. The flysch also contains abundant sandstone–marl intercalations, thick grey-blue marl layers and coarse conglomerates with flint pebbles and quartz grains. Bedding is locally chaotic but generally dips south-west. The valley incision follows the Dinaric north-east–south-west trend and is crossed by parallel north-west–south-east tectonic lines.

Soil analyses show average total and active limestone, low nitrogen, medium potassium, low phosphorus, high calcium and average magnesium. A medium carbon-to-nitrogen ratio indicates equilibrium between mineralization and humification of organic matter.

The marly matrix is weakly compacted but relatively impermeable. Surface runoff therefore creates a pronounced erosion risk. Vineyards are traditionally established as ronchi, or terraces, with particular attention paid to drainage and the safe discharge of rainwater to reduce landslide and slope-failure risk. Preparing and managing these sites is consequently highly demanding.

Vineyard structure and training

The vines occupy Eocene marl-derived soils on historic hillside terraces. Rows are laid out with spacing and orientation suited to sloping terrain. The traditional training system considered best adapted to quality production in Cialla is the single or double capovolto, locally called cappuccina. Planting density is at least 3,500 vines per hectare.

To preserve the landscape and its traditional vineyard structure, Ronchi di Cialla uses only untreated natural-wood posts as vine supports. Drainage and rainwater-discharge systems receive particular attention because the weakly compacted, relatively impermeable marly soils are susceptible to erosion, slope movement and landslides.

Canopy, crop protection and yield

Pruning is carried out with particular care. A computerized microclimatic monitoring station guides antifungal treatments, allowing interventions to be minimized and carried out with non-polluting products. Grape yield never exceeds 5.6 tonnes per hectare, consistent with the restrictive production approach of the Cialla subzone.

Harvest is selective and timed for optimal maturity. The named red-wine vineyards are picked by hand: Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso in early October, Pignolo around mid-October and Schioppettino in the second half of October. The cool valley climate generally delays harvest by one to two weeks compared with neighbouring areas.

Biodiversity

Since 2015, the entire managed surface and all production have carried Biodiversity Friend certification. The approach treats biological diversity as a core resource of sustainable agriculture and seeks to reduce production impacts while protecting organisms and environmental balances. The certification is supported by Ivan and Pierpaolo Rapuzzi’s naturalistic and entomological expertise and is reinforced by the valley’s high proportion of forest and its protected insect fauna.

Cellar approach

Vinification follows a natural, non-forcing approach intended to preserve the character of the Cialla cru through transformation and ageing. Indigenous yeasts are used throughout the described cellar work. Red-wine production employs extended skin contact and regular pump-overs, while fresher styles are fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel and clarified through natural static settling. Fine-lees ageing and bâtonnage are used for white, rosé and unoaked red styles.

Oak and maturation

Ronchi di Cialla was among the early Italian adopters of barrique maturation and, in 1977, became the first Italian producer to apply it to white wine. French oak, with individualized choices of wood and stave toasting, forms the basis of the estate’s long-ageing programme; some red-wine maturation also incorporates Slavonian oak. Barriques serve not only for maturation but as a method of natural stabilization. Depending on the style, fermentation may also occur directly in barrique.

Following cellar maturation, wines intended for ageing are bottled in progressively numbered bottles. They rest in the darkness of the estate cellar until judged mature enough for release. Long bottle ageing is central to the production model, and historic bottles have been maintained through notarized topping-up programmes.

For Schioppettino di Cialla, vinification, conservation, wood ageing, bottling, bottle ageing and any prolonged storage all take place within the estate cellars to preserve authenticity and control throughout the wine’s life.

Ronchi di Cialla was founded around a precise commitment: to cultivate and safeguard Friuli’s native grape varieties and transform them into wines capable of long ageing. The family considers Schioppettino’s recovery part of the protection of Friulian cultural and historical heritage, rather than simply the revival of a commercial variety.

The estate’s philosophy combines inherited wine culture with scientific training. Paolo and Dina’s restoration work is continued by Pierpaolo and Ivan, whose agricultural, food-science and naturalistic backgrounds support both technical decisions and environmental stewardship.

In the vineyard, this means maintaining traditional terraces and cappuccina training, using untreated wooden posts, controlling yields, monitoring disease pressure and reducing treatments. In the cellar, it means avoiding forced transformation or maturation and allowing the typicity of Cialla, the native varieties and the vintage to remain legible. Long wood and bottle ageing, release only after sufficient maturation, and the conservation of historic vintages all follow from this view of quality.

Biodiversity is treated as essential to sustainable agriculture. The environmental objective is to reduce the effects of production, protect the right of organisms to exist, maintain ecological balances and avoid the loss of valuable species. Biodiversity Friend certification extends across the entire managed area and production.