Gradis'cutta, Rosso 2014

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 Gradis'cutta wine Rosso 2014 is a red wine made from 70% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. The grapes are grown in the territory of Vecchia  Contea of Gorizia close to the border of Slovenia. The wine is aged 12 months in large wooden casks for about 12 months and then aged in the bottle.

In the taste I get black currants, cherry and tannins in the back that leaves a long aftertaste. Quite a slow drinker due to the long aftertaste but very good. This bottle just shows how good the Merlot grape is in Friuli.

Gradis'cutta Malvasia 2017, Collio, Friuli, Italy

 

During spring 2019 I visited the producer Gradis´cutta in Friuli, Italy. 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 sparkling wines.

The wine that I have tasted is the Malvasia 2017. This grape is a grape called Malvasia (Istriana). There are many grapes with the name Malvasia but this grape is native to Friuli. The Malvasia that is used for this wine is grown at 180 meters above sea level. The wine is kept on the yeast until bottling.

 

In the taste I get peach, apricot and some citrus and honey. A very good Malvaia that works well with spicy food.

 

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.