Komjanc, a wine producer in Friuli Venezia Giulia

For my second instalment about Friuli Venezia Giulia I write about the producer Komjanc. The winery Alesssio Komjanc was founded in the seventies by Alessio Komjanc and is situated in San Floriano del Collio. When visiting this winery the one showing us around were Roberto Komjanc, one of the four sons of Alessio Komjanc. This winery has 24 hectars of vineyards. And they focus on many of the grapes used in Friuli Venezia Giulia. For white wines Komjanc uses regional grapes as Ribolla Gialla – still and sparkling; Friulano, Malvasia Istriana, Picolit and the international grapes Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon and Traminer Aromatico. Komjanc also produces some red wines on grapes such as Schioppettino, Pinot Nero, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Also there is a production of olive oil.

The area is very hilly and the local climate makes it very peculiar. The temperature normally drops at night and the soil is made of silt and sandstones. Winemakers plant grass between every row of vine in order to get a better soil structure and to slow erosion. From the house of Komjanc one can see Slovenia, only about 2 km away.

The wine I will focus on here is a  Komjancs white wine made from the grape Ribolla Gialla. The grape is a white grape grown mostly in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region. In Slovenia it is known as Rebula (the name Komjanc is Slovenian). Nowadays it is thought that Ribolla Gialla originated in this region.
The wine from Komjanc is their Ribolla Gialla from 2017 with an ABV of 12,5%. I find this wine to be quite light and easy drinking but full with flavours. In the taste I get peach, tropical fruits and some floral notes with a light hit of citrus. I just love these Ribolla Gialla wines.

From the tasting I had at Komjanc I tasted several of their other wines and some I will review later on. They have very good wines along the board and it is a fun visit at the winery.

Gradiscutta, wine producer from Friuli Venezia Giulia

For the next upcoming blogposts I will focus on wine from region Friuli Venezia Giulia in Italy. This region borders to the east Slovenia and to the north Austria. This region is known for their white wine and one famous region here is the Collio area which is in the north-east area of Friuli Venezia Giulia and it is quite a hilly area bordering Slovenia. In the photo below the border to Slovenia is about 2km away.

During spring 2019 I visited the producer Gradis´cutta. Gradis'cutta is a producer which have 20 hectares of vineyards in the communes of Gorizia, Capriva del Friuli and Dolegna del Collio.

The locations of the vineyards are at different elevations and therefore they have many different growing conditions for indigenous grapes, such as Ribolla and Friulano, and international grapes such as Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot. Gradis'cutta produces a multitude of wines, from white to red to sprakling wines.
The indigenous grape Friulano was known as Tocai or Tocai Friulano until 2007 when the name had to change to due EU regulations. This grape has nothing to do with the Hungarian wine Tokaji.

When I visited Gradis'cutta one of many wines that I tasted was their wine Friulano of the vintage 2018 with an ABV of 12,5%. It is made of 100% Friulano grape. This wine is very fresh and crisp. In the taste I get tropical notes and citrus with some minerals. One day earlier I had tasted the 2017 vintage at a bar in Goriza and that vintage was very good also and that shows a good quality over the years. Highly recommended wine and from the wine tasting I had at Gradiscutta they have a very good quality for all the wines that I tasted. A very good producer from a relative unknown wineregion and if you have the chance, please visit them.

A review will come later for their sparkling wines which have interesting stories behind them.

Camparo Langhe rosso 2015

Last week I tasted a white wine from the producer Camparo in Langhe, Piemonte, Italy. This week I have tasted one of their red wines. Their Langhe Rosso from 2015 with an ABV of 13,5%. The grapes used are 50% Dolcetto, 25% Barbera and 25% Nebbiolo. I get a lot of red fruits in the nose. In the taste I get red and black currants, some cherry with some slight bitterness and tannins with some oak. Very nice Langhe blend.
I like the butterflies that they use for the bottles.