Although the name of Enzo Pontoni says relatively little to the vast majority of wine consumers, it is worth remembering that he is the mind and arms that lie behind the Miani winery, wich produces with incredible constancy rare and legendary wines. The story of Enzo begins around the early ’80s when he decided to leave the engineering sector, where he worked, to take care full-time of the Buttrio family winery (10 kilometers southeast of Udine), and the family vineyards, between Buttrio and Corno di Rosazzo, in the denomination Colli Orientali del Friuli.
The “secret” of Miani wines is the expertise and maniacal care with which every phase of wine production is followed, constantly with the aim of giving life to authentic standout wines. The vineyards grow on soils rich in marl (the famous Friuli ponca), at an altitude between 150 and 300 meters, and are fertilized with cattle manure. The grapes are treated exclusively with copper and sulfur, and the treatment is interrupted during the veraison phase to avoid that these substances remain on the skins of the grapes at the harvest, “soiling” the wine with their scent. The two most characteristic aspects of the work in the vineyard are, however, an incredibly low yield of the vines (from about 20 hectares managed, Enzo does not get more than 20,000 bottles of wine per year) and the choice to vinify each individual vineyard separately, exalting the concept of Cru so dear to the wines of Burgundy, to which Enzo makes no mystery to be inspired. In the cellar the philosophy is a mix between a natural approach (extractions very delicate, without temperature control) and the conviction that the hand of man must take action to transform the grapes in the wine that Enzo is up to.
Chardonnay Baracca, which is born in the homonymous vineyard, is a wine made from grapes that, after pressing, ferment and age for about 12 months in French barriques. The 2017 vintage has a rather dense straw yellow color, almost tending to gold, with an olfactory range that opens on woody notes of peach in syrup, dried apricot, kumquat and hawthorn, followed by gooseberries, laurel, saffron and toasted hazelnut, with final echoes of burnt shell and wet stone. The taste strikes for the seductive softness enriched by good mineral flavor, a hint of refreshing acidity and a pleasant spiciness of white pepper; all accompanied by the return of yellow fruit, citrus fruits and spices that persist beyond a considerable length closure.
Rating: 94/100
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