2018 Schioppettino

Talk about tasting terroir. My conversation and tasting with Christian Patat of Ronco del Gnemiz left me wishing that I was in Friuli, boots on the ground and digging my hands through the ponca soils that the region is known for. Like a number of their well-known winemaking neighbors, the style of Ronco del Gnemiz is one of transparency, using natural, sustainable means (certified organic but not advertising), a gentle approach to winemaking with barrel fermentation and aging sur lee, while keeping the processes the same throughout most of the range, in order to deliver a sense of place. The only major differences with the white wines is a deft use of oak on the Chardonnays where they go through both fermentation and malolactic in 228-liter barrique. Otherwise, what you taste is the fruit that the vineyard yields. This was evident while sampling the Friulano San Zuan and the Friulano Buri Bellaria, both gorgeous expressions for very different reasons. In a region where Friulano isn’t often broken down by vineyard designations within one producer's portfolio, at Gnemiz, you can taste the austere, nervous and stony character of the San Zuan against the riper and more exotic opulence of the Buri Bellaria. Another example is the Sauvignon Blanc Sol and the Sauvignon Blanc Peri, both located within the estate vineyards yet drastically different in character, resulting from a difference of vine age, elevation and soils. Another exciting topic that came up was the debut bottling of the Buri Bellaria Rosso, an old-vine Merlot with a dollop of Refosco from a vineyard in Buttrio, which up until recently was managed by Enzo Pontoni of Miani. It’s a beautiful effort and a wine that we should all be watching closely over the coming vintages. Getting back to estate versus leased or managed vineyards, it’s important to note that Ronco del Gnemiz tends to fourteen total hectares, split evenly between the estate parcels located around the winery and the managed parcels throughout the region. A fun fact is that the word “Ronco” refers to a hilltop with vineyards (think of “Bricco” in Piedmont), and it also depicts a wine made only from estate fruit; and so an easy way to tell the difference between the source of fruit between estate and managed vineyards throughout the portfolio here is that only the estate bottles are labeled as Ronco del Gnemiz, while the others show only Gnemiz, with “made at” spelled out in a code resembling braille.