friuli vineyard (Photo credit: shaggyshoo)
Succulent….let’s start there. Marco Felluga's Russiz Superiore Collio Sauvignon, 2011 is one of those white wines you open, expecting the typical white wine experience which goes a bit like this: It’s very nice, but soon you’re ready for a red wine…and you move on after a glass. Very few white wines call me back like a siren song, but this one does.
Lemon cream, whiffs of grapefruit, juicy ridiculous acidity folded into a round finish and wrapped in layers of complex flavor. The winery characterizes the vineyard as “hilly, formed during the Eocene period, presenting layers of limestone, clay and sandstone. Very impermeable.” I checked on the Eocene period, noteworthy because of the emergence of mammals…so we can be sure these vineyard hills were formed a very long time ago. It may seem trifiling, but geological history creates complex layers of soil, which is the basis for complex, delicious and interesting wines.
Even more important is the fact that these wines hail from the cool Northern Italian climes of Fruili, which runs along the Alps near the Austrian border. Within Fruili you have the Collio region, one of the most prized areas for growing grapes. If you enjoy white wine, this is one appellation you should commit to memory. They are well-known for their gorgeous, fully-ripe Pinot Grigios. This wine, a Sauvignon Blanc, hails from the very heart of Collio in Capriva del Fruili.
A wee bit of the wine is fermented in oak (10%), the rest in stainless vats. All the mechanics and geography are interesting, but the wine tells the story best of all. 100% Sauvignon Blanc, $24.
Find this wine and more like it HERE
Follow me on Twitter HERE
