Friulian Reds with Zorzettig

Nothing gets me more excited when it comes to Italian wine than having the opportunity to taste grapes that I don’t too often have the opportunity to taste.  Going to the Gambero Rosso event in Boston earlier this summer provided me that opportunity.  This month our Italian Food, Wine & Travel group is exploring wines of northeastern Italy including reds, whites, sparkling, dessert wines.  Heck anything goes this month.   

If you’re a regular reader of my blog you know that I love the white wines of northern Italy, specifically northeastern Italy.  Not too often do I taste the reds, but I’ll jump at any opportunity to do so.  At the Gambero Rosso even I discovered the wines of Zorzettig located in the Friuli Venezia Giulia wine region.  Today I want to share with you their red wines including schioppettino and refosco. 

The winery ~ Zorzettig 

Zorzettig is located in the hills of Spessa di Cividale of the area of Colli Orientali.  With generations upon generations of winemaking in the family today the winery is managed by Annalisa Zorzettig with the help of her brother’s assistance in the vineyard.  Other generations including Annalisa’s daughter Veronica and young granddaughter will be following in her footsteps one day.   Their production is quite large with over 900k bottles annually. 

Zorzettig family ~ Copyright of Zorzettig

The land ~ Colli Orientali 

The Colli Orientali is one of the respected wine producing areas of Friuli.  It’s found just north of Collio in the eastern part of Friuli at the foothills of the Pre-Alps.  The vineyards were built there by the legionnaires of Julius Caesar.  Due to the steep hillsides the vineyards are terraced to allow easier cultivation of the grapes and hand harvesting of the grapes. 

Copyright of Zorzettig

The grapes ~ Schioppettino & Refosco 

Schioppettino and refosco aren’t two grapes I have covered a lot in the 6 years since I started my blog so am always happy to share them once I find ones I’ve enjoyed.  Schioppettino, pronounced skee-oh-pet-tino, is one of Friuli’s native red grapes.  It’s also known as ribolla nera.  This grape faced extinction since it was challenging to grow, but was rescued in the 1970’s by the Rapuzzi family and the Mayor of Prepotto.  It’s darkly colored with notes of black fruits and some spice.  It’s a full-bodied wine with intensity, structure, high acid and tannins.  They usually will age well as well. 

Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso, another native red grape of Friuli, is found throughout the region with its home in Carso.  The name of the grape means “from the red stem” and is due to the fact that the stalk turns red once the grapes have ripened.  Refosco can produce different styles depending upon the use of oak or not.  Medium to full-bodied it lends red and black fruit notes with herbs and spice.  Another grape high in tannins and acid.  

The wines 

2016 Zorzettig Schioppettino 

I was informed at the tasting that the word schioppettino comes from the verb scoppiare meaning to burst as the skins explode during fermentation.  Made of 100% schioppettino.  With a nose of black pepper and green bell peppers.  Rather lighter than I expected close to medium bodied.  A soft wine with notes of forest berries.  At this price point it’s quite the bargain.  SRP $10-12 

2015 Zorzettig Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso Myo 

These grapes hail from the oldest vineyards of the estate and was a project started in 2008 with a new selection of grapes both native and international.  The project is named Myo Vigneti di Spessa.  Vigneti meaning vineyards of Spessa.  Myo stems from an ancient Friulian ballade based on the simplicity of daily living.  Zorzettig felt Myo was the best name for these wines due to their pride and respect for their land and their labor of love put forth in the vineyards. 

From the Friuli Colli Orientali DOC, this wine was my favorite of the two.  Made of 100% refosco.  Deep ruby red in color.  Moderate tannins with nice, crisp acidity.  Black fruits and ripe raspberries.  Good overall body and structure.  SRP $20 

Join my fellow wine and food loving friends as they share their choices for northeastern wines of Italy.  If you catch this in time we will be live on Twitter Saturday at 11am EST @ #ItalianFWT.  See you there! 

• Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla hunts down “Coniglio in Agrodolce + Ronchi di Cialla Ribolla Gialla 2017.” 
• Wendy tries “Caramelized Onion and Mushroom Pizza with a Terlano Pinot Bianco” over at A Day in the Life on the Farm. 
• Linda investigates “Alto Adige Offers More than One White Wine” at My Full Wine Glass
• Gwendolyn is The Wine Predator, and she will be “Celebrating Summer in the Mountains of Italy : 4 wines with 4 courses from Südtirol.” 
• Jeff at FoodWineClick! will be getting back to nature with “A Food-Friendly Skin-Fermented Vigneti delle Dolomiti.” 
• Cindy will be taking a look at “Picolit – A Historic, Rare, Sweet Dessert Wine from Collio DOC” over at Grape Experiences.  
• Lauren, The Swirling Dervish, will be trying out “Elena Walch Müller Thurgau with Summertime Shrimp Pad-Thai.” 
• Katarina will be look closer at “Aquila del Torre winery: An Oasis in Friuli Focused on Local Identity and Innovation” at Grapevine Adventures. 
• Nicole from Somm's Table shares "2 Ounce Pours: A Quick Look at Pinot Bianco." 
• Kevin will be doing a bit of a double-header here at SnarkyWine, with some “Mountain Bubbles and a Tannic Finish.” 

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The Wines of Friuli with Anna Muzzolini of Azienda Agricola Grillo

Last week I had the opportunity to meet owner and winemaker, Anna Muzzolini, of the Azienda Agricola Grillo winery of Friuli at a local wine shop.  I was excited about the opportunity because Friuli is a region that isn’t talked about as much as some of the others nor visited as a top tourist destination adding to it's uniqueness.  If you’re not familiar with the region of Friuli it’s tucked up in the far northeast corner of Italy bordering Slovania and Austria.  It’s also one of the regions that make up what’s known as the Tre Venezie that include Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Trentino-Alto Adige and the Veneto.

Anna Muzzolini

One of the things I love about visiting the different regions of Italy are meeting the people and getting a sense of place and traditions.  Anna had so much pride in where she is from and it was evident in her presentation of the wines and how they play a part of everyday life. 

Anna’s family has been making wines since the 1970's starting with her father, Sergio. They didn't present their first bottle to the public until 1992.  Prior, the wine had been kept for personal consumption. In 1999 Anna transferred over from her career in biology in Ferrara to the wine life to take over and manage, as well as serve as the winemaker, at Azienda Agricola Grillo. 

Anna Muzzolini

Azienda Agricola Grillo is situated in the town of Albana di Prepotto, which is located rather close to Cividale del Friuli in the Udine. The winery overlooks the hills of the Colli Orientali del Friuli with views of Slovania in the distance. Anna owns 9 hectares  and produces 40,000 bottles annually.

The wines that you find in the Friuli consist of many single varietals including sauvignon blanc, pinot grigio, cabernet franc, merlot, chardonnay, etc. but you'll also find indigenous grapes of the area include friulano, verduzzo, ribolla gialla, refosco dal peduncolo and schioppettino. I had the opportunity to sample 5 Azienda Agricola's wines. Unfortunately only 2 of them are sold in the US and of course the ones I liked are the ones not sold in the US. The other wines Anna brought along with her with the potential to be brought into the US.

Here are the 5 wines I tasted:

2015 Azienda Agricola Grillo Friulano

2014 Azienda Agricola Grillo Cabernet Franc

2013 Azienda Agricola Grillo Schioppettino di Prepotto

2013 Azienda Agricola Grillo Refosco dal Peduncolo

Due Donne Rosso (didn't catch the vintage)

It's been awhile since I've had some wines from Friuli, but if you follow my journey you know that I very much enjoy the whites of Friuli. The wines of this region differ from the south due to the differences in climate. Obviously in Friuli you're in the northern Alps so it's much more cold climate than the south where it's warmer and the wines are heavier. These wines are lighter in body so if you're one for big bold wines with lots of complexity they probably wouldn't top the list. I think the reds are great if you're looking for lighter summer time reds.

My top 2 picks for their whites and reds were the 2015 Azienda Agricola Friulano and the 2013 Azienda Agricola Refosco del Pedancolo Rosso. 

I loved the aromatics of the Friulano. It's a dry wine with slight spice and almond notes. It comes from the oldest part of their vineyards which have 45 year old vines located on a hill. The quantity of production is low. Surprisingly, Anna stated that she has tasted some of these friulano wines with 8-10 years of age and they were still in great shape. This grape, friulano, was once known as tocai friulano until 2007 when there was a problem with Hungary. Hungary felt that the grape was being confused with their wine known as tokaji. Ever since Friuli has only been able to call their grape friulano, leaving out the tocai.

The Refosco del Pedancolo Rosso was the boldest of all the reds I tasted that day. As Anna described this wine, “it's good for a warm fire and hearty fare”. It's a dry, fruit forward wine with rather moderate tannins and deep color. It's aged 18 months in oak.

Label drawn by Anna herself

Anna also pulled out on the side her Due Donne Rosso wine that she produces with a friend, Susanna,whom owns a winery in Tuscany. Due Donne, meaning 2 women, explains it all. It's a blend of Anna's schioppettino and Susanna's sangiovese. My question before trying it was whether the sangiovese would dominate the schioppettino, but Susanna's sangiovese is grown 400-600 meters high altitude so it's a little lighter in style than some of your other typical sangiovese. The tannins were well integrated and the wine showed expressive cherry and pepper notes. This was my 3

Have you had any of the wines of Friuli? Tell me about them!

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 *Most pictures copyright of Azienda Agricola Grillo

Overview on the wine region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia

Many may be familiar with what is known as the Tre Venezie, or 3 Venices, which is located in the northeastern part of Italy bordering Slovania, Germany and Austria. I have also discussed part of the Tre Venezie when I discussed Trentino and Alto Adige, but we have yet to cover Veneto (Venice) and Friuli-Venezia Giulia, which we're discussing today.

Copyright of Federdoc

History of Friuli

Friuli-Venezia Giulia used to be divided into two separate provinces, Friuli named after those that inhabited the area, and Venezia Giulia, which was part of the Venetian Republic. This area back in the day was where the spice route ran through along with travelers from northern Europe and the Middle East. In 1954 after the post-war is when the territories were realigned and became what we know today as Friuli-Venezia Giulia.

A man of this region, Mario Schiopetto, developed the standards for white wine making in Italy with the introduction of using stainless steel temperature controlled tanks. The goal was to display the fruit as purely as possible without use of oak. Later Josko Gravner introduced barrel fermented wines to the region and producers have been experimenting since and have also created wines that have come to be known as “super whites”, imitating Tuscany's “super tuscans”.

White grapes of Friuli

This area had many Austrian and French influences as you will see in the list of white and red grapes grown throughout the region, but with every region they have their own special indigenous varietals. Although most of Italy produces red wines this region is known for producing some of Italy's most vibrant, crisp and racy whites. Here the indigenous grapes are tocai friulano, also known as tocai, and ribolla gialla, but there is also a variety of international grapes grown there including pinot grigio, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc and pinot bianco.

Red grapes of Friuli

With more of a reputation for whites it's interesting that about half of the production is red consisting of international grapes including merlot that dominates the land as well as cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc. The indigenous grapes here are schioppettino, refosco and tazzelenghe, which I will break down in a later issue. Almost half of the wines of Friuli-Venezia Giulia have received the DOC status.

Dessert wine of Friuli

This region also produces two dessert wines including Verduzzo di Ramandolo made from the verduzzo grape named after the village where its produced (Ramandolo). The other dessert wine is Colli Orientali del Friuli Picolit made from picolit grapes, but these grapes are very finicky considering only half of the flowers last to produce grapes so its rather an expensive wine and not all producers will make this wine.

Wines of Friuli by Fabio Bruna

It may seem as though there are a variety of grapes produced here, but prior to this region being hit by phylloxera over 350 grapes were grown here according to the Wine Bible.

With the northern part of the zone being mountaineous due

to the Alps, many of the vineyard sites are located on the plain fields and lower foothills of the mountains. Here you experience warm days and cool nights due to the proximity of the Adriatic Sea allowing the wines to evenly ripen creating a balance between the fruit and acidity of the wines.

Two well-known wine producing regions here are the Collio

Goriziano, known as Collio, and the Colli Orientali del Friuli that are located near the hillsides close to Slovania where the soil differs than the other regions and a they are located on a slightly higher elevation.

Vineyards of Friuli by Discosour

Top producers of Friuli-Venezia Giulia

Some of the top producers of this region are: Abbazia di Rosazzo, Mario Schiopetto, Jermann, Ronco dei Tassi, Josko Gravner, Livio Felluga and others.

Food of the region

This region is well known for their prosciutto di San Daniele that comes from the same pig, called Lambrea, where prosciutto di Parma comes from. Speck, smoked bacon, is another favorite. Try pairing the prosciutto with some figs or melon and one of the local whites if you find it accessible.

A lot of folks will base themselves out of the town of Udine inland or Trieste near the sea as the wineries are located around this vicinity. Let me know if you go or have been to this wonderful region.

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