The 8 Best Wineries & Vineyards in Prepotto, Friuli Venezia Giulia

Roncs, in the dialect of Friuli, means vinery cultivated hills. Cialla is a small valley facing from North-East to South- West, surrounded by woods with chestnut, oak and wild cherry trees, in the d.o.c. (controlled wine) Colli Orientali del Friuli area, and it is officially recognised - with a Ministerial Decree dated 30.10.95 - as cru CIALLAonlyforthecultivationof nativevinesfromFriuli(whitewines: Verduzzo, Picolit and Ribolla Gialla; red wines: Refosco dal Peduncolo rosso and Schioppettino) and the production of vintage wines. Cialla has remained intact because it is a bit distant from other settlements, as it was in ancient times when it was called #ela. #ela, in the Slavic language that was spoken there, which means "Riviera"; it was given this name because it had such an exclusive and good micro-climate that even now olives grow there. The step terraces, carved out of the hills, perfectly located in terms of the directions they face for wine cultivation, go back to the times of the Patriarchate of Aquileia and the Republic of Venice, and according to deeply rooted local folklore, they were developed by Turkish prisoners. To confirm that Cialla wines were already appreciated back then there are documents dating back to 1496 that state that the Honourable Cathedral Chapter used to purchase some of this wine every year. In 1970 a family run agricultural company was founded here - which was the passion of Paolo and Dina Rapuzzi and now continues with their sons Pierpaolo and Ivan - aiming to valorise ancient vineries of Friuli origin in accordance with a philosophy aimed at a selected production of extremely high quality wines. In 1976 Paolo and Dina won the prestigious "Risit d'Aur" award for having saved the "Schioppettino" vinery from disappearing. The vine yards were planted on eocene marl soil - in rows in compliance with distances and orientations that are ideal for hill vineries. Pruning is carefully carried out and the fungicide treatments are controlled by a computerised micro-climatic unit which permits minimum treatment with non polluting products. The grapes obtained this way, as the result of a limited yield imposed by cru Cialla rules, are selectively harvested at the right time and with the maximum amount of care to obtain a qualitatively perfect product. Vinification is carried out naturally in line with the philosophy of not forcing the transformation and aging phases, which always privileges the "typicality" given to cru wine. The maturing of the wines in barrels with a personalised dosage of wood (French bay oaks) and toasted oak staves, makes Ronchi di Cialla wines among the highest quality Italian wines and absolutely the first white wines (1977) to use this old nature wine stabilisation process. Subsequently the wines are bottled; the bottles - which are numbered in sequence - are made to settle in the darkness of wine cellars until, thanks to long and undisturbed meditation, they mature fully. It is up to the sensitiveness and experience of the producers to look after them during their aging, so as to achieve the "right" taste, which from that moment onwards will increasingly develop the personality and typicality of cru Cialla over the years.