VENICA & VENICA: MERLOT DOC Collio 2015 • New Silver Edition
We are pleased to present our new label: the SILVER-EDITION of our MERLOT DOC Collio.
Author: Michela Barbieri
Vini Venica & Venica in Germany
Venica & Venica neu bei ViP Weine, Deutschland
Venica & Venica, das Spitzenweingut aus dem Collio/Friaul, ist ab sofort im Portfolio der Kölner Weinhandelsagentur ViP Weine, Deutschland vertreten. Erstmals am Stand von ViP Weine auf der diesjährigen ProWein in Halle 16 / H60 wird eine große Bandbreite ihrer Weine präsentiert. So unter anderem die hochdekorierten Cru-Weißweine aus den besten Lagen wie der Sauvignon Blanc Ronco delle Mele, der Friulano Ronco delle Cime, der Ribolla Gialla L’Adelchi.
Die große Liebe zu einem Stück Land im Collio veranlasste den Großvater der Brüder Gianni und Giorgio Venica ein Bauernhaus und die dazugehörigen Weinberge im Dörfchen Dolegna del Collio zu kaufen. Heute 90 Jahre später, steht das Weingut an der Spitze der Weinbaubetriebe im Collio. Zusammen mit Giorgio als Agronomen und Gianni als Önologen wird es auch von dessen Frau Ornella, zuständig für Vertrieb und Marketing, sowie auch deren Sohn Giampaolo, der als Önologe seinen eigenen Input gibt, geführt.
Collio - DAS Weißweingebiet in Italien
Das Collio im äußersten Osten des Friaul gilt als DAS Weißweingebiet in Italien schlechthin. Zum einen ist es gegen die kalten Nordwinde durch die Julischen Voralpen abgeschirmt. Zum anderen sorgt die Nähe zur Adria für ein mildes und gemäßigtes Klima. Die deutlichen Temperaturschwankungen zwischen Tag und Nacht sind für frische, klare Aromen und eine schöne Säure in den Weinen verantwortlich. Dazu bringen die kargen Kalkmergelböden außerordentliche Mineralität. Die Familie Venica findet hier optimale Voraussetzungen für ihre Weinphilosophie.
Mehr Informationen: http://www.vip-weine.de/friaul
FOOD & WINE Magazine ospite da Venica & Venica
FOOD & WINE Magazine: Italy's Next Wine Frontier
"On a hilltop above cascades of neat terraced vineyards framed by soft pre-Alpine peaks, Giampaolo Venica is telling me about “promiscuous agriculture." And grinning. "Actually, it's just our sexy Italian term for mixed farming," explains the boyishly handsome 38-year-old scion of the acclaimed Venica & Venica winery. Until wine really took over Friuli in the mid-1980s, everyone just planted vines alongside whatever else they were already growing: fruit, wheat, maize."
Looking around—Austria is to the north, Slovenia is almost visible to the east and the Adriatic Sea is 20 miles south—I decide that Friuli itself embodies an intriguing "promiscuity": of cuisines and identities, of traditions and languages. Climates, too. "The salty Adriatic breezes combined with the Italian Alps create distinctive microclimates," Venica tells me. "That gives Friulian whites their structure and special complexity."
This once-obscure pocket some 100 miles northeast of Venice, where Mitteleuropa meets the Mediterranean, is captivating Italian and international sommeliers. I, too, have come to Friuli to experience its aromatic whites based on local grapes—Ribolla Gialla, Malvasia and others cultivated here for centuries—as well as the familiar Sauvignons and Pinot Blancs, French grapes introduced by Napoleonic troops. But I also want to explore the foods of Friuli, which is seen as a culinary frontier in Italian cuisine. For the next three days, with Venica as my guide, I'm going to learn just how ideally his wines pair with the region's hearty offerings."
Our first stop, before going in search of Friuli's best salumi, cheeses and bakeries (we're stocking up for a party in honor of the 2015 vintage), is the family winery. On a lush green estate in Collio, we sample the delicately floral Malvasia along with an apple strudel baked by Venica's great-aunt Iole. His father, Gianni, and uncle Giorgio, both sporting blue vests, tell me about the winery's history. The Venica family once grew cherries, apples and plums while producing vino sfuso(bulk wine) for their trattoria, which was famed for its frico—not the wispy wafer known to Americans but a thick, cheesy potato pancake—and, always, polenta. In 1988, just a decade after their first bottling, the Venicas were awarded Tre Bicchieri from Gambero Rosso, the top Italian wine prize. More acclaim followed; the estate grew, and, eventually, the Venicas converted their trattoria to a B&B and began concentrating on vino, with Giampaolo as the brand's global ambassador. "At first I went door-to-door like a beggar," he says, "pleading to American sommeliers about our Friuli." Before long, American wine buyers were becoming more curious about regional Italian whites and eagerly started seeking him out. Soon, the family's intense Sauvignon ("a vino dramatico" in Giampaolo's words), its surprisingly complex Pinot Grigio and its velvety Friulano appeared on the lists of such restaurants as Eleven Madison Park in Manhattan and Alinea in Chicago.
Fondazione Italiana Sommelier FVG | VISIT TO THE VENICA & VENICA WINERY
The Italian Sommelier Foundation FVG in the field with "pruning in green
This was the focal point of the didactic visit attended by numerous participants of the 1st "Friuli Colli Orientali" Course organised by the Fondazione Italiana Sommelier FVG and some guests, at the Azienda Venica & Venica in Cerò di Dolegna del Collio.
With Ornella and Gianni Venica, it was an intense and exciting day spent amidst rows of vines, land ready for "green manure", and cellars rich in the history of a family that has been making wine in Cerò for eighty-six years.
Between the rows, a lectio magistralis on pruning and bio-dynamics with reference to the Steiner theory, held by Marco Volpe, a young and highly qualified agronomist.
The wine cellar, taken care of down to the smallest detail by the impeccable and discreet hand of a professional: Carola Nitsch. Environments are simple, elegant and functional, and always with references to the Venica family's origins. A family of 'farmers' with a capital 'C' tied to their land, faithful to tradition and devoted to keeping the path of nature intact.
The strongest emotions: in the cellar.
Taken by Ornella on a virtual journey through intimate moments of the Family, we pass through four doors: that of Daniele, the grandfather head "jamb", in memory of the Company's genesis; that of Adelchi, Gianni and Giorgio's father, so as not to forget the traditions and life of the time; and that of Gianni and Giorgio, modern (created by Klemens Torggler), with a play of joints to symbolise the origins, traditions and strong ties that hold the Family together.
The last one, that of the scions of the fourth generation, 'encloses' Giampaolo, Serena, (Gianni's children) Marta, Giulia and Adelaide (Giorgio's); a door to keep the footsteps of those who have gone before them alive and ready to break it down to face the future.
The Wines.
To talk about them so much would seem like a panegyric; it was simply an exciting tasting with superb and proud wines, as is Ornella's pride and frown when talking about her wines.
Pinot Blanc: Talis. Intense aromas with a succession of fruity, floral and spicy aromas, synonymous with great finesse. The taste is fresh, clean, persistent and harmonious. A wine that is!
Ronco delle Cime: the Friulano... Mr. Tocai in his typicality! With characteristic aromas, a light, pleasant hint of fresh almonds. Dry and soft on the palate with an aftertaste of apple and spices. Very persistent and harmonious.
Ronco delle Mele: Sauvignon, greenish reflections that stand out against the light golden yellow. On the nose: powerful, with floral and fruity hints; delicate notes of sage and mint, peach and gooseberry. Dry and harmonious on the palate; it is balanced and very persistent and is a wine that grabs you!
Great red wines are also made in Collio!
Together: Merlot, a superb wine of great elegance. No doubt it is destined to stand the test of time. A little gem among the vineyards of Venica & Venica; almost an anomaly among a 'sea' of white grape vineyards, this proves that great red wines are also made in Collio, as in all the other DOCs in the region. This wine, however, has a history all its own, starting in 2001 and arriving in 2011, ready to be offered to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the Unification of Italy. Wine matured, at the time, in new barriques for 24 months and then bottled without filtration.
The tragedy that struck Japan with an earthquake and tsunami and the danger of a nuclear disaster, made us rethink the symbolic value of that wine and the Venicas, Gianni and Giorgio and all the others decided without any hesitation and mindful of that devastating earthquake that struck Friuli in 1976, they "... from the heart, ... decided to set aside the 2011 bottles of "Insieme" to signify the year of the tragedy, as a way to collect donations for the victims of the disastrous earthquake in Japan."
Thank you Ornella, thank you Famiglia Venica.
Article published by the Italian Sommelier Foundation FVG
BIBENDA: Friuli, great winemakers meet
IN THE JERMANN WINERY WITH THE EXCELLENCE OF FVG VIA DEI SAPORI
"... Modern viticulture continues to enhance the thousand-year-old wine route of this hilly area, which is a great nature itinerary, close to the snows of Carinthia as well as to the sea, a route that speaks of wine, punctuated along the way by the signs of well-known wineries such as Venica, Livio Felluga, Livon and Jermann."
"... the Via dei Sapori Friuli Venezia Giulia, under the leadership of Walter Filipputti, in collaboration with Jermann, organised a Lunch Show on 24 October, with 20 chefs. Seasonal cuisine that of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Via dei Sapori restaurants, prepared with local products that the chefs help to promote. Through the dishes, in a tireless search for raw materials of the highest calibre, the chefs wish to tell the story of their land and the many historical and cultural contaminations that make it unique; all this together with the 40 winemakers, coming not only from Friuli but also from the rest of Italy and neighbouring Slovenia. On this occasion we had the opportunity to taste many great white wines and fine reds with a typical Friulian character, from the indigenous Friulano and Ribolla Gialla to Sauvignon and Chardonnay. The most widespread red grape variety is Merlot and among the local varieties are Refosco dal Penduncolo Rosso, Schioppettino and Pignolo."
"... Another level-headed tasting was the 2014 Sauvignon Ronco delle Mele from Venica, a family-run estate in Dolegna del Collio. The property is spread over four hills, with around 35 hectares of vineyards, enhanced by a winery philosophy capable, in each wine, of emphasising its particularities and uniqueness. The 2014 Ronco delle Mele is one of the best Sauvignon wines in Italy: a citrusy nose of grapefruit, then intense lychee, and traversed by a pleasant floral and herbal note (sage and thyme), against a mineral background. In the mouth it is savoury, mineral, with good freshness and consistent aromatic returns."
To read the entire published article
WINE NEWS TV: harvest 2010
WINE NEWS TV: Vendemmia 2010 - Interview with Gianni Venica.
In the video published on You Tube by WINE NEWS TV, a brief description by Gianni Venica of some important aspects of our 2010 grape harvest. This year's weather trend particularly affected the ripening of the grapes and thus the duration of the harvest itself.
Listen to Gianni's interesting account of the 'Lightning Harvest':
