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.

 

The region Friuli Venezia Giulia in Italy 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.

 

 

In this blogpost I will focus on their white wine Collio Rierva. This wine was produced for the first time in 1999, at their winery, This Collio riserva, is vinified exclusively with the indigenous varieties, Ribolla Gialla, Malvasia and Friulano.  The fermentation is don in large wooden casks (botti) of 10 hectoliters in size. After almost one age of ageing in the bottis itis tranferred to bottle and is aged for at least 15 more months., hence the name riserva.

The vineyards in which these grapes are grown are located in Bukova at Monte Calvario and in the vineyards of Ruttars, a frazione of Dolegna del Collo, at an altitude of 120 to 180 meters (400 to 600 feet) above sea level.

The vinatge is 2015 and the ABV is 13%. A very nice smell of white fruit on the nose.Taste of almosnd, grey pear and some grapefruit and the wine also has a very good body. A long aftertaste in the mouth. A lovely wine that is good as a food wine but also to drink on its won.

 

 

 

 

Colosi 2009, Malvasia delle Lipari, Passito di Salina

The producer Colosi is situated on the island of Salina, which is one of the Eolian islands north of Sicily. Colosi makes a passito wine from Malvasia grapes and I have earlier tried the 2007 vintage. Passito is a way of making sweet wines which involves drying the grapes for a period of time before pressing the grapes. That leaves a very sweet must which is used in fermentation and creation of the wine.

So how is the 2009 vintage? On the nose I get dried figs and a hint of apricot. In the taste I have hazelnuts, dried stone fruits such as apricots. This is a lovely passito wine that can handle ageing very well.

Madeira Malmsey ten years old

The fortified wines from Madeira are one of the most interesting wines in the world. Due to the taste and the history of Madeira. Not many wines can be stored for hundreds of years. Unfortunately good Madeira are hard to get in Sweden. The few Madeiras at Systembolaget are not that interesting with a few exceptions. Many of them are just for cooking good sauces and not for drinking. One of the few good ones are a ten year old Madiera from the producer Cossart Gordon made by Malmsey grapes or malvasia grapes as they are also called. This bottle I decided to open when I had a chocolate tasting with several good dark chocolates from the producer Maglio and an extra milkchocolate from the producer Venchi. The colour of the Madeira wine was very dark amber. I have never seen a wine so dark amber. Woyuld be interesting to see the colour of an even older madeira wine. The taste was sweet, some nuts and dried fruits. Excellent. And of the all chocolates tried it worked so very well together with the cioccolato al latte extra. It is these occasions there one plus one is more than two. The Madeira worked good together with the other dark choclates. Next time I have a Venchi milk chocolate I better bring out the Madeira. For those interested in Madiera check out http://madaboutmadeira.org/

Malvasia della Lipari 2004

Lipari is an island north of Sicily and a wine shop in Bologna recomended this passito wine from Lipari as an alternative to the passito wines from Pantelleria.
Passito di Salina 2004 from Lipari made from Malvasia grapes tastes good. Not as strong taste as the Pantelleria wines I have tasted before. Maybe it is the lower alcohol level of 12% that makes the difference? I like it and I wish I could find it in Sweden.