Against all Odds: Vie di Romans Sauvignon Blanc Vieris
BY ERIC GUIDO |
Imagine watching a wine region grow and evolve over the course of forty years as a forward-thinking and open-minded winemaker, ingrained in the study of terroir, clones and experimental cellar practices. Think of watching the powerful and highly-oxidized farmhouse-styled wines of the region transform into surgically clean and tension-filled whites, to then morph to become big, rich and internationally-styled expressions, and finally to develop into being transparent to terroir, yet powerful and poised examples of purity. All the while, preferred clones are changing, as is the climate, and with that farming practices and the tastes of the end consumer. Now imagine that, through it all, you have established yourself, proven your prowess and the prestige of your vineyards, and you continue to produce one of the top portfolios in your region. Gianfranco Gallo of Vie di Romans can attest to all of these things and more.
Gallo’s belief, which developed quite early in life, in the white wines of the southeastern plains of Isonzo in Friuli-Venezia Giulia places him into the category of a visionary. Climatic conditions here find a balance between Continental and Mediterranean, producing wines that are able to mature positively over the course of decades. Today, we examine this vision through a vertical of Sauvignon Blanc Vieris.
Gianfranco Gallo has been the driving force behind Vie di Romans since 1978. Here he is standing in the Vieris vineyard.
A tasting of this sort isn’t something that the average winery or producer of white varieties would be easily willing to do. It’s one thing to submit thirty years’ worth of Barolo, Brunello or Bordeaux - but a single-vineyard Sauvignon Blanc from Isonzo? In the case of Gianfranco Gallo, he had no worries. After years of working with the numerous white varieties of the region, it was the potential of Sauvignon Blanc that captivated his imagination, or more its phenotypic qualities, meaning how it responds so differently from place to place and vintage to vintage. What’s more, here in Isonzo, he could push Sauvignon Blanc to full phenolic ripeness while maintaining typicity. To prove his point, not only were some of the best vintages submitted for review, but also some of the most difficult because this is about better understanding an often confused region, the variety, and how it can excel on the alluvial plains and within the uniquely contrasting climate of Isonzo.
Friuli-Venezia Giulia doesn’t fit into the typical perception of quality that consumers have about Italian regions. The wines here are often very different from even the bordering areas. These vineyards are located as close as twelve to thirteen miles from the Adriatic coast, but their climate is better compared to their northern neighbor, Austria, than to the rest of Italy.
When we think of wines that will improve with age, challenging our palates and our intellects over decades of cellaring, it’s usually not a white that comes to mind, especially not a Sauvignon Blanc from Isonzo, Friuli. However, Gianfranco Gallo of Vie di Romans set out over forty years ago to prove us all wrong. Has he? With a fourteen-vintage vertical of the Sauvignon Blanc Vieris direct from the cellar, we’re about to find out.
