September WINE BOX: maceration on the skins (stage 18), selected by Ottavio Venditto - best sommelier in Italy AIS 2014, September 2019

Roncùs winery , Capriva del Friuli

We are in Capriva del Friuli, a few kilometers from Gorizia: a family of farmers guided by a natural philosophy, with a beautiful history behind it. After the Second World War the Perco family wanted to return to growing their vines but could not afford a tractor. The war, however, had left a tank in the area, which they revitalized and put into operation to prepare the vineyard for burglary. From there they never stopped.

Frank & Serafico , Grosseto

This is not just a winery but a great project, born in 2009 from the meeting of two winemaking minds, Fabrizio Testa (Frank) and Pier Paolo Pratesi (Serafìco), who decided to settle in Maremma to develop the idea of ​​producing own wines and beers in total autonomy, starting from the raw materials grown locally. But in this natural ecosystem you don't just drink: in the Agricultural Refreshment you also enjoy delicious dishes, prepared with food from their beautiful vegetable garden.

MoVe winery , Mondragon

We are an hour's drive from Venice, near Fanzolo. At Gabriele, the owner, the word "chemistry" is not allowed and absolutely no pesticides are used. He is a dear friend of Ottavio Venditto and has an ambitious project for the recovery of the territory, which concerns the environmental redevelopment of an abandoned area and also includes the production of great wine. He is an amazing character, who produces wine in a very small cellar, whose door is recovered from an old garage from the 1960s...

ENTHUSIAST BOX

Collio Bianco - Roncùs Winery

40% “tocai” (Friulano) grapes, the same amount of pinot grigio and a little sauvignon, from 25-year-old vines grown by Marco, the current owner, on marly soil.

Here we experience the beginning of film maceration , which lasts about four hours . This is reflected in the color of the wine, which appears slightly golden from the skins. Spontaneous fermentation takes place in steel, made with only indigenous yeasts for a natural, genuine and highly digestible wine.

We are in the Collio, so here is a white with a savory and mineral flavour, which on the nose expresses notes of white almond, aromatic herbs, bay leaves, hints that precede the ponca (the soil of the Collio); a wine that has an important and very pleasant finish, and which is very easy to drink.

Pairing: try it with a platter of smoked cured meats.

Of Macchia Without Sulphites - Frank & Serafico

Tuscany, this is a particular wine because it is made with a base of Vermentino (95%, the rest is petit manseng), from the best grapes grown in the Valle d'Oro of Capalbio. These grapes come from an old vineyard, cold macerated in a press for 12 hours , left to mature in steel and refined in French oak barriques .

It has great maritime and Mediterranean notes, a beautiful golden color and a decidedly Mediterranean nose: therefore the scrub, the aromatic herbs up to a beautiful brackish, marine note... The sulfur dioxide here is very low and the wine is not filtered: we like this going outside the box, into an area where everyone makes classic, filtered Vermentino, while here we are on another level.

Pairing: we recommend trying it with semi-fatty fish, for example with a creamed cod mousse.

Mondragon Refermented "Utia" - MoVe Cellar

Here we experiment with long fermentation (10 days) , on indigenous yeasts and on their own skins. Glera grapes grown on slopes give an extreme wine, a bubble refermented in the bottle according to the ancestral method, which matures in steel without added sulphites. The wine is not disgorged, so the grounds must be recirculated before serving. The bubble is thin, it is very elegant and decidedly important on the nose, with fascinating fruity notes.

Pleasant and digestible.

Pairing: try with fish crudités.

EXPERT BOX

Seraphic - Frank and Seraphic

A very particular wine, it is the winery's flagship Vermentino, produced in very few bottles (only 1100 per year). Grapes (in addition to Vermentino also Petit Manseng) from a vineyard over 30 years old, harvested late and maintaining a small residual sugar due to the overripeness of the grapes.

We therefore begin by experimenting with a wine that undergoes cold maceration in a press for 12 hours , static and natural decantation at low temperature, partial malolactic fermentation and maturation in acacia barriques for 14 months, refinement in the bottle for a very soft white. The yellow pulp fruit stands out on the nose but also a note of honey, spice, vanilla, sugar... This beautiful sugary note can also be felt on the sip and the fatty volume fills the palate.

Pairing: perfect with cheese and white meats.

Mondragon Tranquillo "Garbeo" - MoVe Cellar

We really like this wine produced in a land where everyone else makes Prosecco: we are on the hills of the upper Marca Trevigiana, the vineyard is 50 years old and was about to be uprooted by a local entrepreneur but a farmer who had other vineyards next door he decided to stop everything and rent it because he was convinced that it was a great heritage of humanity. Having studied the varieties, find a cross between Manzoni, Malvasia, Glera and also Istrian Malvasia. The area is terraced, very difficult to cultivate, the harvest is manual and the production is super niche (only 1200 bottles a year).

Fairly intense maceration for 10 days on the skins so the color turns towards orange. A wine with an important flavor and an explosive nose that contains the aromas of autumn: dry leaves, hay, honey, orange peel, chestnut, aromas of salt, baked Taggiasca olives...

Pairing: try it with a rich fish first course, for example with ravioli with a scallop emulsion, or with prawns and shallots. Also perfect with cheese.

Val di Miez - Roncùs winery

Merlot and cabernet franc from 40-year-old vineyards grown organically by Marco, the current owner. Here we experiment with a long maceration - 20 days with the skins -, spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeasts and completely malolactic fermentation. Then it ages in large French oak barrels for 18 months.

A reserve red, produced in very few bottles, which has structure and power, balsamicity, a lot of fruit but also herbaceous notes. On the palate it stands out for its elegance.

Perfect to drink now, but if forgotten in the cellar it will reserve pleasant surprises in a few years...

Pairing: you can start with seasonal cheeses but it can be nice to go, due to the important and silky tannins of this red, to meats cooked for a long time, such as veal cheek with leeks and potatoes.