While Schioppettino is perhaps the most beloved grape variety at Vigna Petrussa, in Italy’s Friuli Colli Orientali, they have a range of other wines and varieties that they produce.
(If you want to know about their Schioppettinos you can find that here)
They have broken the wines into 4 Categories for wines that you can currently find on their website:
International Wines – Cabernet Franc & Sauvignon Blanc
Indigenous Wines – which includes the RiNera (the young Schioppettino), Friulano, Ribolla Gialla and Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso
The Gems – the Schioppettino di Prepotto, Picolit and Perla Nera
& My Whims – which include the Richenza and Desiderio
We’ve discussed the Schioppettinos in our last piece, which covers the RiNera, the Schioppettino di Prepotto, and the Perla Nera. So let’s dive into the other varieties. Let’s get the International Varieties out of the way first.
Many of the International Varieties that they are growing come from a single hectare of the vineyard that they purchased from a cousin a few years ago. In addition to the Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc, they also have Pinot Noir and Merlot growing.
The Indigenous varieties they produce I find much more interesting.
Friulano
Friulano is one of the most important local varieties in the Colli Orientali region. They ferment this in Stainless Steel and age it in large wood barrels for 7 months. This is a white wine with delicate floral notes, green apple, and almond.
Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso
Refosco covers a group of red varieties in this region. The finest of these is Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso. The name comes from the red stem of the grape. This is a deeply colored wine. This wine ages in tonneaux (large barrels) for 2 years. Hilde describes the aromas as “dry summer hay, red berries jam, and black pepper.”
Ribolla Gialla
Ribolla Gialla is often made into sparkling wine in this region. This high-acid wine typically has notes of apricot, Asian pear, and tangerine. Vina Petrussa’s spends 6 months in stainless steel before bottling and has floral and mineral notes on top of citrus fruit.
The wines listed under “My Whims” or “My caprices” are the wines that Hilde is experimenting with.
These include Richenza, which is a blend of Friulano, Malvasia Istriana, Riesling Renano, and Picolit. Hilde created this blend almost 17 years ago, and each year, she refines the style of this wine. The latest vintage vinifies each variety separately, and the wine ages 18 months in barrel and 6 months in bottle before release. This white wine reaches its peak 5-6 years after harvest.
Disiderio is a blend of Picolit, Malvasia Istrina, and Friulano that have been dried, then pressed, and spend 18 months in French barrique. They make only 1000 bottles a year of this sweet wine.
Then there are the Gems
In addition to the Schioppettino di Prepotto & the Perla Nera that we spoke about last week, they make a sweet Picolit. These grapes come from 50-year-old vines on Santo Spirito hill.
This wine is floral with small bunches with a few berries. These old vines produce enough grapes to get 1 375 g bottle from every one to two vines.
Made in the appassimento style, the grapes are hand harvested and then dry for 1 to 1 ½ months before they are pressed and then age in French barrique for 18 months.
This wine was given to me as a gift from Francesca at our meeting. She shared with me two stories to think of as we sipped it.
The stories of the Sweet Picolit
Francesca brings two stories of this wine to hold in our memories when we taste it. The first takes her back to her childhood, running about the cellar with her friends and using the wine thief to sneak sips of the sweet Picolit wine.
The second story comes from when she was older. Her father is older than her mother and quite tall and slim. For Christmas, Francesca gave him a heating blanket to keep him warm. On returning to visit after the holiday, she asked how he liked the blanket. It seems there was an issue in the cellar and the blanket now warmed the tank of Picolit. LOL! We see where her mother’s affections are.
We did a pairing with this wine that you can find in our piece, Vigna Petrussa and a Glimpse at Friuli Colli Orientali.
Want to find these wines?
Most of these wines can be found in the US through VeroVino Craft Wines.
For more on Vigna Petrussa, you can visit their site https://www.vignapetrussa.it/
Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine and WSET 3 Certified. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.
When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.
Check out our book series, “Tempting Spoonfuls” available through Amazon!
Inspired by the flavors and aromas in wines, these books create “tempting spoonfuls” of flavors to pair with wines.
“Tempting Spoonfuls – Pairing single bites with glorious wines” – Our first book paired wines from boutique wineries on the west coast, in California, Oregon, and Washington, with delicious spoonfuls.
This book is 60 pages, 18 recipes, lots of beautiful photos, and insights into some fantastic small wineries!
“Tempting Spoonfuls – small bites paired with wines from around the Globe” – This book takes us around the globe to explore 12 wine regions, a wine from the region, and then gives you a recipe for a pairing!
A slightly larger book at 104 pages, this time you learn about pairing with a type of wine from a region. Rather than a specific bottle, you can look for a style of wine from a region and feel confident that it will go well with the recipe pairing we provide. We give you 12 recipes, each to pair with a wine.
The goal is to make your mouth water and encourage you to create your own “Tempting Spoonfuls.”
2 Comments
Leave your reply.