Ronc di Vico

At first wine was just a hobby for him. He then studied the art of winemaking with the support of the prestigious and highly qualified winemaker Enzo Pontoni, owner of the Miani estate. Finally, winegrowing became an occupation for his whole family, which they completely occupied. When in 2004 Gianni Del Fabbro fulfilled his long-cherished dream and founded the small winery Ronc di Vico in Bellazoia, a small suburb of the municipality of Povoletto not far from Udine, he decided at the same time to continue cultivating the vineyards inherited from his father on the hills of Faedis. Half of the plots, which are treated according to biological principles, are owned by the winery itself and the other half are cultivated by the committed winegrower on a lease basis. Although in the winery he prefers to do everything alone, from the care of the vines, the work in the cellar to the distribution: In his daily, careful and uncompromising work, Fabbro can always rely on the support of his son Lodovico, named after his grandfather, and on the very useful advice of Pontoni.

Since he restructured the old vineyards and kept the yields low at around ten hectolitres per hectare, the grapes of the promising Friulian boutique winery Ronc di Vico not only provide the basis for fine wines praised to the highest tones by wine critics. The steady successes catapulted the winery to the top of the regional wine industry, even at high speed and in a very short time. Grape varieties such as Friulano (the vineyard was planted in the 1950s), Refosco, Merlot, Picolit and Verduzzo grow and thrive on soils consisting of layers of limestone and sandstone, clay and marl. The microclimate around Povoletto is cooler than in other areas of the Friuli Colli Orientali DOC, so that the wines here are less alcoholic and slightly more acidic than those in other parts of the denomination.

The labels of the very quality-oriented northern Italian wine house are very efficient, but nevertheless extremely elegant. The range includes two lemon-yellow white wines with high minerality and three pure red wines made from Merlot and Refosco. In addition, there is also a passito made from dried, almost rosinated grapes. The white wines are fermented in French oak. Fabbro works in the cellar in the traditional way, but ferments the Merlot in large wooden barrels and bottles it unfiltered. To age, the plant is stored in large wood for 16 months. SUPERIORE.DE