A giant of Friuli wine production, this was Livio Felluga: a pioneer who, more than 70 years ago, took over the fate of the family winery (producer of wines for five generations) and moved its headquarters from the Istrian peninsula, overlooking the Adriatic Sea, in Rosazzo, a small enclave in the province of Udine, in love with those lands nestled on the hills around its Abbey. Today Livio is no longer there, he reached his fathers in 2016, but his spirit still lives powerful in the wines he signed, which have long reached fame both in Italy and abroad. Among them Illivio occupies a special place, of great symbolic value for the cellar, as it represents an ideal passage of witness between the patriarch and his children. This wine, in fact, a white Colli Orientali del Friuli DOC, was created in 1998 by Livio’s sons, and explicitly dedicated to him for his 85th birthday.
The grapes come from vines cultivated according to the principles of low impact integrated control, insistents on rocky soils (Flysch) composed of marl and sandstone originating from prehistoric oceans. After a careful manual harvest, the grapes are destemmed and then macerated, before a soft and delicate pressing. The must obtained, clarified by natural decanting, is fermented, at controlled temperature, in barrique, where it is then aged for almost a year, in contact with fine yeast, before the final bottling.
The 2018 vintage already shows what what dough it is made of: the straw yellow color is particularly intense, almost golden, and the evident glyceric consistency, predispose to a dense and material drink. Also the nose shows a great olfactory density with ripe yellow fruit (sultanas, mangoes and candied citrus fruits), medicinal herbs (helichrysum and yarrow), mediterranean scrub, wildflower honey and notes due to the small wood aging (Normandy butter, roasted hazelnut and caramel). The palate is characterized by a soft taste and a whispered sweetness, given by Picolit grpe and glycerine. When the sip has expanded, occupying the entire oral cavity, from the back part of the palate the receptors suddenly light up, stimulated by an unexpected fresh and iodine note that increases the salivation and cleans the palate, preparing it for the next sip.
Rating: 89/100
Want to find out what i can do for you? Click here!
