2020 i Clivi Ribolla Gialla delle Venezie, Friuli

100% Ribolla Gialla.10 years old vines

The hand-picked whole grapes (i.e. with no prior de-stemming) are pressed very gently (max 1.2 bar) in order to extract only the first and cleanest part of the must (mosto fiore), which is immediately pumped in a stainless steel vat where the most solid and heavy parts decant overnight. In the morning the upper part of the must is separated from the bottom (feccia grossa – hard lees) and racked in to another stainless steel tank, where the natural, grapes’ own yeasts start the fermentation of the sugars.

This fermentation (called alcoholic) lasts till complete reduction of the sugars (which at the end are below 2 gr/lt) into alcohol. At the end of this process, the wine stays on its own fermentation deposits (feccia fine – lees), which are kept floating in order to avoid reductive (asphyxia) effects and to gain the stabilization and anti-oxidative benefits that these natural components bring. This is called maturation on lees. The length of this maturation varies from wine to wine; this Ribolla Gialla matures 6 months on its own lees, always remaining in stainless steel vats (no oak). After this time, the wine is bottled with a light filtration, meant only to eliminate the cloudiness brought by the floating lees. 30 mg of SO2 are added per liter, which with the natural amount produced by the alcoholic fermentation adds up to a 50 mg/lt total, where the maximum amount allowed by EU Organic Regulations is 150 mg/lt.