Tasting tours in Friuli Venezia Giulia

Wood: skilful chiseller of a wine’s peculiarities.

The Wine Degustation Tour organised by the SVC is an educational opportunity that takes us on a discovery of particular territorial areas, wines and production techniques.

This year’s destination was the Collio area in Friuli to explore specific methods of vinification and ageing in wood.

Thanks to the support of Cristiano Visintini, founder of Mastro Bottaio srl, we were able to visit several wineries that have been carefully experimenting with the use of this natural material for years.

The choice of the wood to be used is made by paying close attention to the characteristics of the wine that will come into contact with it; this is an enriched vision, based on great technical knowledge, which allows producers to distinguish themselves by making the most of their wines.

The selection of the essence, the type of toasting to be used and the duration of ageing will therefore have as their main objective that of enhancing the distinctive traits of the starting grapes.

In this region of north-eastern Italy, white grapes are favoured: Ribolla Gialla, Chardonnay, Sauvignon and Tocai, and the passage in wood is conceived as a complement, a condenser, capable of enhancing the wines’ aromatic qualities.

The contribution of wood is studied at different stages of the grape transformation process, giving rise each time to new and surprising results.

The tastings we have had the opportunity to carry out testify to the elegance that these techniques are able to cede to the final product, enhancing its potential to the maximum without ever invading its natural aromatic spectrums.

The environments where barrels and barriques are stored must be chosen or designed with particular attention to temperature and humidity conditions, which are two critical parameters so that the wood can work and preserve itself in the most correct way.

All the producers who hosted us welcomed us, giving us the opportunity to do tastings of high technical value, in an atmosphere of pleasant conviviality.

Being able to taste a wine, lingering in the most important processing areas, makes it possible to make contact between the idea that guides the transformation process and all the work diligently done to achieve an excellent result.

We would like to thank the wineries for their kind availability:

• Azienda Agricola Sturm
• Jermann Winery
• Edi Simčič Winery