Ronchi di Cialla Ribolla Gialla 2019
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Robert
Parker
Product Details
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
The bouquet opens up to candied fruit, lemon curd, dried apricot and pressed rose. Fresh floral notes complement tangerine, lemon and yellow apple. Perfect balance of acidity with a long clean finish resonating with green papaya and English custard.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
An ample production of 20,000 bottles, the Ronchi di Cialla 2019 Friuli Colli Orientali Ribolla Gialla reveals a pretty bouquet with honey, apple pastry and toasted pine nut. The wine veers to lean-bodied in overall texture, although there are extra layers of fruit padding and ripeness to give it a more substantial level of staying power and fiber. Here's a good opportunity to rekindle your mom's chicken pot pie.
Ronchi di Cialla, meaning “hills of Cialla”, is located in a small valley surrounded by chestnut, oak and wild cherry woods in the DOC Friuli Colli Orientali Its story begins in 1970 when Paolo and Dina Rapuzzi bought a property here for the purpose of growing local grape varieties. At the time, they were making their living selling Olivetti typewriters, but they found a property for sale near the border with Yugoslavia, abandoned since the Iron Curtain had fallen twenty-five years earlier. Paolo was attracted to its possibilities because it had olive trees growing on it, which suggested an unusually warm, mild climate this far north. The area’s unique climate characteristics are enshrined in the designation Friuli Colli Orientali DOC - Sottozona Cialla, which specifies, among other things, permitted farming practices as well as the maximum percentage of total surface that can be planted to vines.
Ronchi di Cialla is certified as biodiversity friendly by the World Biodiversity Association, and they remain committed to using natural practices with minimal interference, having been one of the first winemakers to adopt integrated agriculture with low environmental impact. Today the winery is run by sons Pierpaolo and Ivan, who are also active entomologists with regular publications in Europe’s scientific journals. The estate produces approximately 115,000 bottles a year and offers library vintages extending back to the 1980s. The wines age exceptionally well--reds, dry whites, and of course the incomparable sweet wines--and the older bottles are highly sought after by knowledgeable collectors and fine restaurants alike!
The exact origins of Ribolla Gialla remain unclear, though it most likely came to Friuli before the 1200s by way of Slovenia, where it goes by the moniker, Rebula. Blanketing vineyard hillsides along the Italian-Slovenian border, unconcerned about which side it is on, this pink-skinned variety creates a range of styles from the crisp, dry, still or sparkling whites to the charmingly ephemeral, skin-contact orange wines. Somm Secret—If you’re into orange wines, go visit Collio’s Oslavia and Slovenia’s Goriska Brda regions. They are so close you’ll hardly know you’ve gone from one to the other.
Viticulture has thrived in Colli Orientali del Friuli since the reign of ancient Rome and today its verdant, rolling hills support a long list of autochthonous varieties, each playing a unique and important role in the modern Colli Orientali wine scene.
The region is primarily recognized for its white wines. Its indigenous varieties of Ribolla Gialla, Verduzzo, Picolit and perhaps most importantly, Friulano are made into single varietal wines or blended, and often blended with the international varieties of Sauvignon blanc, Pinot grigio and Pinot bianco. The latter have been flourishing in the area since the 1800s. But it wasn’t until the 1970s when producers started using cold fermentation techniques to produce fresh, fruity, crisp and aromatic whites that this area began to attract international attention.
While reds only make up about a third of the area under vine, Colli Orientali is home to some of Italy’s most exciting and rare red wines. Refosco, Schioppettino, Tazzelenghe and Pignolo are among the autochthonous varieties while Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir also have a stronghold.
Colli Orientali holds much in common with its neighbor, Collio; the only thing dividing them is a political line. Both are influenced by the cooling effects of the Julian Alps and moderated by the Adriatic Sea. A unique soil of alternating marine layers called flysch also dominates Colli Orientali, providing a mineral-rich environment for vine roots and optimal water drainage.