Last Wednesday, Ritmodivino was at Atripalda, at the Hotel Malaga, for the event organized by the ONAV of Avellino with Pierpaolo Sirch. The theme of the evening were the most expressive wines of the Friulian reality. We’ll tell you how it went.
Little deviation in Friuli, this evening, for Ritmodivino.
Invited as a specialized press, we went to Atripalda, in the province of Avellino, to follow the event organized by the ONAV of the capital of Irpinia in the presence of Pierpaolo Sirch.
Winemaker and agronomist, in addition to being the owner of the homonymous winery in Friuli, Sirch has been collaborating for some time with the Campania winery of the Feudi di San Gregorio, which is based in Atripalda.
The aim of the meeting was to deepen the characteristics of Friulian viticulture, and to draw a parallel with that of Irpinia.
We are welcomed by the hotel in Malaga, Pierpaolo, which does not escape a quick chat with us of Ritmodivino before starting the evening. Person of determination and passion, Sirch explains that, despite being very distant geographically, Irpinia and Friuli boast several similarities, especially in the character of the people who work these difficult and impervious lands.
In fact, according to Pierpaolo, great courage is needed to decide to work in hilly areas, with marly and steep terrain, which make the viticulture of these areas something heroic.
During the evening, after a video and photographic excursus on the pedoclimatic environment of Friuli, we went into the viticulture of the region to the extreme North-East of Italy, in which the Pinot Gris predominates as the main vine.
Sirch tells us that Friuli was the second Roman diocese at the time of the Empire, and the region to which the wines destined to feed the colonizing legionaries of the lands of the East departed.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, it was the Habsburgs of Austria who valued viticulture in these areas, being the city of Trieste the only outlet on the sea to trade in the Mediterranean.
In 1860 the Phylloxera and the Oidium destroyed the whole Friuli wine landscape and the Habsburgs decided to replace it with the French international vines, especially the Merlot.
The First World War cleared everything again: the Austro-Hungarian Empire ceased to exist and Friuli became North-East of Italy.
The new government chose ex-novo to produce white wines, replacing the almost omnipresent Merlot, with Verduzzo, the Tocai (today Tai), the Picolit and other excellences such as Ribolla Gialla, Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.
We then pass, after this quick introduction, to the real tasting, in which five wines are served.
The first is a RIBOLLA GIALLA DOC COLLI ORIENTALI DEL FRIULI SIRCH from our Pierpaolo family winery. Well balanced wine, very floral, with hints of honey and a good balsamicity, which, when heated, expressed mineral scents, especially of incense.
The second wine was a FRIULANO DOC COLLI ORIENTALI DEL FRIULI LIVIO FELLUGA. Chosen by Pierpaolo Sirch as a product of a very representative wine of the territory, it is a much more floral wine than the previous one, with hints of camomile and a definite spicy note of almonds, walnuts and hazelnuts.
The third wine was a PINOT GRIGIO DOC COLLI ORIENTALI DEL FRIULI TERLATO. Elegant, good-tasting, fresh and mineral wine with iodized note. It was also distinguished by a definite smoked note and incense.
Fourth choice was then a CHARDONNAY DOC COLLIO VENICA & VENICA. Soft wine and “piacione”, almost ruffiano, which aimed a lot on softness. Its origin is the area of Prepotto (UD), a border town between Italy and Slovenia.
The evening ended with the tasting of the SAUVIGNON DOC COLLIO SCHIOPETTO. Very characteristic wine, with very strong aromas of tomato and pepper leaf. For Sirch, this depends a lot on the characteristics of the boundary Sauvignon, which is a difficult to process grape, which often has an easy presence of animal scents. However fresh and sapid wine.
Many of the personalities that we at Ritmodivino met at the event. We thank in particular the ONAV for accreditation and Roberta Raja for the invitation.
GALLERY
BOTTLES
