Vodopivec

When talking about orange wines, one cannot fail to mention the elegance and authenticity of those from the Friulian winery Vodopivec, among the world's top interpreters of the type, with only one grape variety at its heart: Vitovska. We are in Colludrozza, a small hamlet in the municipality of Sgonico, in the heart of the Friulian Karst, an area where in the 1990s brothers Paolo and Valter Vodopivec picked up the family's agricultural legacy, engaged in horticulture, and decided to focus everything they had on vine cultivation and Vitovska.

The vineyards of the Vodopivec winery consist of bush-trained vines with high planting densities, with as many as 10,000 vines per hectare, in a pedoclimatic context that is as unique as it is difficult, with clay and rocky soils subject to a cool and windy climate influenced by the Bora. As mentioned, the only grape variety grown on the estate is Vitovska, an indigenous white grape variety that has become, along with Malvasia Istriana, the viticultural symbol of the Kras. The meager soil, high planting densities and meticulous work in the vineyard contribute in determining very low grape yields, quantifiable at just 500 grams per vine. Both buried Georgian amphorae, where the masses undergo spontaneous fermentation and prolonged maceration on the skins, often protracted for up to 12 months, and old large Slavonian oak barrels are adopted as wine containers. In order not to deprive the wines of their truest and most intimate essence, throughout the entire process of processing and aging the precious liquid is not subjected to any filtration or clarification, and no oenological adjuvants and additives are used, intervening little and never invasively.

From these noble assumptions come Vodopivec's authentic and refined interpretations, capable of striking from the very first taste, remaining imprinted in the memory and senses. There are four labels in the selection, some produced exclusively in the best vintages, all pure Vitovska characterized by extraordinary depth and harmony, absolutely to be tried at least once in a lifetime.