We have unearthed an absolute gem in the guise of Rosso della Centa, a 100% Merlot wine grown on just one hectare of a distinct marl clay hillside in Friuli, Italy. The wine is the creation of one of Italy’s top winemakers Nicola Manferrari who first produced the wine in 1985 and has gone on to release it only in top vintages, producing just 1200 bottles per vintage. 

As we have managed to source a small parcel of Rosso della Centa 2010, we explore the history of this incredible and rare wine.  Friuli ranks highly among Italy’s finest regions for white wine production, producing some of the most vibrant, mineral, saline whites on the planet. The global reputation of the top wines of Friuli continues to grow, gaining fans throughout the world and firmly positioning it on the global fine wine map.   Whilst more famous for their white wines, top grower Nicola Manferrari has a very special one-hectare plot dedicated to red wine. On taking over the family vineyards in 1982, Nicola was not happy with the quality of wine coming from this Merlot site. So much so he took to studying French and French winemaking to learn the secrets of Bordeaux and then apply these techniques to his own wine, to get the best out of this unique site. He states that François Champagnol’s Elements de physiologie de la vigne was one of the most intellectually stimulating reads of his life. Nicola Manferrari is one of Friuli’s original trailblazers. Along with Mario Schiopetto, Josko Gravner and Silvio Jermann, Manferrari was just one of a handful of producers in the 1980s who had the vision and courage to follow his convictions.

He experimented with the 1982,’83 and '84 vintages before he was happy with the techniques he had adopted and, matched with the perfect weather, managed to produce something exceptional, releasing the inaugural Rosso della Centa in the 1985 vintage. Nicola was confident that he could create the first world-class red wine from the region and was not swayed by his neighbouring premium sites opting to plant Cabernet Sauvignon rather than Merlot. But for Nicola he believed the Merlot was perfect for the clay and collio marl soils in which Cabernet Sauvignon struggled.   The ’85 was a critical success, described by the critics as the "First Great Friuli Red". Other greats of the region include Enzo Pontoni of Miani fame and Christian Patat from Ronco del Gnemiz have followed in his footsteps making incredible Merlots from the Friuli region.
Nicola Manferrari continued to improve the wine buoyed by its critical acclaim, further reducing the yield, increasing the vine density (more than 7000 hectares per hectare), introducing shorter pruning techniques, using no fertiliser and complete grassing in the vineyards to improve the soil health. The wine is fermented in small 12 hl wooden vats and are matured in small oak barriques for four years. Only the finest vintages are released as Rosso della Centa. 
In the summer of last year Monica Larner (Wine Advocate) had the opportunity to taste some more recent vintages of Rosso della Centa. “Looking over my scores, I can't help but notice how consistent they are across vintages and varieties. Results like these are hard to achieve, but not at Borgo del Tiglio. She goes on to describe the ’06 as “musical and operatic in character… there is complete harmony and silkiness here in another gem from Borgo del Tiglio’s cellar”.

"Nicola Manferrari and his family have been working tirelessly since the 1982 vintage to become a benchmark for winemaking in Friuli Venezia Giulia." Monica Larner, Wine Advocate 

Larner did not have the opportunity to taste the mythical 2010 but we pulled a cork on it this week to find out how the wine has developed and we were blown away by the quality. This is a superb rendition retaining everything that is great about Italian wine – the acidity, freshness, dried floral notes and herbal spice along with all the greatest assets of fine Merlot – the rich expansive multi-layered tannins that provide tremendous depth on the palate and the rich mid-palate juiciness full of black fruits and now with age a beguiling leather and earthy savoury notes. The wine has tremendous energy whilst showing handsome tertiary development and to retain so much acidity in a grape that often lacks it underscores just how fantastic this wine is. 

Nicola believes this steep southwest slope of marl and sandstone is perfectly adapted for his old vine Merlot providing a marked elegance and complexity in his Rosso della Centa. The 2010 certainly reflects this and with only 1200 bottles produced virtually impossible to find. This is a unique parcel unlikely to be seen again and is entering into a beautiful drinking window. This wine is a piece of Italian winemaking history and one for any afficionado not to miss. 

It is always difficult to put fine wine into words but Nicola Manferrari’s philosophy outlined on his website gives possibly the greatest insight into this pioneering spirit of Friuli:
“I believe that in effect, the path I have followed has left its mark on the character of my wines which have, according to many, their own maker’s trademark. Over the last twenty years, I have transformed, studied and debunked certain common beliefs and have also overcome - while allowing plenty of room for the sacrilegious power of empirical observation – some of my own personal taboos. I have observed, researched and innovated in the face of hypocrisy and prejudice. 

"Often, however, while doing this I have unwittingly renewed ties with ways of the past which were interrupted by a modernity which had lost all sense and memory. It was probably my unorthodox approach to the world of wine that has guided my choices, meaning this also includes my checkered educational history; I was at the same time a child of scientific teachings and an orphan of technology. This has taught me to take absolutely nothing for granted, and the words of Galileo, which accompany me wherever I go, have taught me to be humble when facing all situations, and to be dignified when dealing with people.” 

Explore more Editorial

Whilst more famous for their white wines, one of Friuli's top growers, Nicola Manferrari, has a very special one-hectare plot dedicated to an incredible and rare world-class Merlot, Rosso della Centa Friuli 

We explore the history of the incredible and rare world-class Merlot Rosso della Centa Friuli 

Rosso della Centa, the first great Friuli red

Rosso della Centa: The first great Friuli red

Christian Patat is one of Italy’s busiest and most successful vignerons working with his wife at top Friuli estate, Ronco del Gnemiz, as well as working with Enzo Pontoni, vigneron extraordinaire, at the legendary Miani estate. He also works as a consultant winemaker for many properties producing wines from all over Italy. Most recently he has been involved in an old vine project with long-term friend and fellow Friulian, Marco Simonit – famed for his work protecting old vines all over the world most particularly at the legendary estates of Yquem, Leroy and Louis Roederer.

We caught up with Christian to talk more about L’Età Più Bella (With Age Comes Beauty), which is set to release its first collection of wines from top sites in Friuli next month. His insight into the Friuli region is a great starting point to understanding Italy’s mecca for white wine.
 Can you describe what you think is so special about the Friuli region for wine production?  "Friuli is one of the most complex scenarios in the wine world given the unheard of combination of grape varietals, soil identities and climatic challenges. I’ll try to explain from the inside. The wide number of varietals is provided by different waves of invasion, such as
the French (at the time of Napoleon) and the Austrians (in the same period of Napoleon
but they stayed for much longer); these invasions explain why we have so many 
Bordeaux varietals (Merlot, Cab Franc, Cab Sauvignon, Carmenere) and others of
French origin such as Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay and Sauvignon. "The arrival of these 'imported' wines did not cancel out the presence of local varietals such as Ribolla Gialla, Refosco, Schioppettino, Pignolo and Tocai Friulano. The Austrians also did their part leaving some Traminer and Riesling so that the picture is composed as it is today.  "Until the ‘60s, Friuli was a poor region and the vineyards were in the hands of small growers selling locally and with no real commercial plan and having the ability to offer a wide range of wines gave more options to sell to occasional customers. For this reason, the Friulians never gave up any of these varietals and when the DOC was finally in place they were all included.  "In terms of soils there is a significant difference between the flat appellations (Grave del Friuli, Isonzo, Aquileia) and the hillside appellations (Collio, Friuli Colli Orientali, Carso). The flat area is basically made of gravelly soils, the hillside is basically marl (locally called PONCA and geologically called FLYSH), obtained by the sea pushing in the direction of the mountains and creating slates of chalk, limestone and clay, all of which are agglomerated in various percentages and sometimes within the same vineyard, providing an incredibly complex subsoil.  "This complexity is augmented by the fragility of the structure which is very prone to erosion and obliges the growers to cultivate on terraces in order to minimize the impact of the water. This way of growing the plants generates very high costs and consequently low yields given the limited density of plantation (i.e. the average density on a modern planting in hillside Friuli can reach about 6.500 plants/ha which is much less than what can be achieved in Burgundy with an average of 10.000 plants/ha), and makes virtually impossible machine harvesting and other mechanical intervention.  "To complicate this picture, Friuli has the highest amount of rain in Italy which means that growing grapes can be a real challenge, but the ponca soil has a high degree of draining, so to avoid issues and diseases caused by excessive water close to the roots. All this being said, the real peculiarity comes from the soil itself which can be a magical balance of minerally driven characters, with enough structure to provide full-bodied wines and that’s the
reason why white and red varietals are grown in the same place." What varieties do you think perform the best in Friuli and why?  "You may have different answers if you ask different growers but personally I think that among white wines I would go for Friulano (Tocai) because it expresses very well the different sites and shows better than any other varietal the balance of richness and saltiness.  "Apart from Friulano I would pick Sauvignon Blanc because I see it as a possible third way
between Loire and New Zealand. More aromatic than in France with richer body
and more minerally driven than in New Zealand.  "And finally, if you are lucky enough to have well-aged vines Chardonnay can also do surprisingly well in cold sites. Among reds I would pick Merlot and Cabernet Franc given their tendency to ripen on the late side (same timing as Pomerol and Saint Emilion) and to
provide low yields and concentration without losing freshness and spice. Also, Refosco can do very well bringing a Syrah-like spiciness and a full body but it needs to be grown in very well-suited spots. Can you describe the last few vintages and qualify them?  
"2018 was a very sunny and dry vintage, driving to early ripening of some of the whites such as Sauvignon (starting date of harvest 23rd of August) but quite interesting for reds given that the month of September was quite fresh and dry so to give a larger window to pick the reds at the right level of ripening. 2019 was much cooler (starting date of harvest 1st of September) but quite ideal for whites with lively acidities and good concentration. Reds were also fine but some later rain in September affected a bit the possibility of fully ripe tannins so I would consider it as quite average." 
10 DOCs, 4 DOCGs, 30 different varieties, it can be difficult to know where to start exploring the wines of the region. Can you advise?  "Diversity can be fascinating but it can also turn into a nightmare given that you have to add also the wide difference of styles available (stainless steel crisp white wines, barrel fermented Burgundy oriented, orange wines with maceration on the skins…). I cannot really advise on this as I find all this diversity as a real limit to communicate the character of the region, but on the other hand I have to admit that there are very few wine regions in the world (maybe none) where you can find so many reasons of interest. That’s why more and more wine enthusiasts are travelling this way and fall in love with the complexity of these terroirs and
wines." 
Are all the fine wines of the region concentrated in one area or are they dotted all around?  
"90% of what we can call fine wines are made on the hillsides of Collio, Friuli Colli Orientali and Carso and very few are made in flat appellations such as Isonzo." 
Friuli-Venezia Giulia comes across as quite independent from the rest of Italy, why is this?  "I think a whole history of invasions (Romans, Longobardians, Venetians, Austrians, French) has created a sense of self protection. More than this after the Second World War Friuli has turned from a poor region into one of the very wealthy and productive areas of Italy, due to
the silent and consistent attitude for hard work of the Friulians. They have been able to turn it into a well-kept secret and make a pride of it." How long have you worked at Miani?  "I started in 1991 helping him in decision-making at the time of the final blending and taking on my shoulders all the commercial aspects that he did not want to manage." What makes the wines from these top wineries stand out?  "I don’t know if they stand out but what I can surely say that we both apply a tireless dedication and passion to what we do. We both consider single sites and soils more important than varietals and we have the ambition to 'bottle a place' more than a wine." Who has been your biggest inspiration in life and as a vigneron and why?  "My father, a real bon vivant, who put me in contact with great wines since I was still very young and created in my mind the quest for quality in every aspect of my life. My fascination for great wines came from him, just watching his excitement when receiving his annual allocation of Champagne Salon or Monte Vertine (to name a few) and the pleasure he used to take in sharing with friends.  "Then my wife who despite challenges, family issues, economical limitations never gave up looking for the best possible wine here at Gnemiz, loving this place and respecting it as a living treasure and not just as an instrument. Finally Enzo Pontoni at Miani who showed me how you can achieve your goals only with hard work and passion and how you can be the happiest man on earth just for the fact that you are doing exactly the work you want to do in the way you want to do it." How did you first get involved in L’Età Più Bella (With Age Comes Beauty), the old vine project?  "That was Marco Simonit's idea to involve me as we had experimented in the past and in some ways we started the project in the mid ‘90s, but at that time we were all too busy to follow up and we did not have a well-formed concept of what we could do… we were just youngsters…" What is so unique about the wines that have been produced under the L’Età Più Bella label?  "The goal was to explore the identity of various plots of very old vines, all of which were well placed with very good exposition and with an excellent quality of soil. The character which comes out from an old vineyard has a different kind of balance and texture, as we use to say, it is more a “wine of roots” than a “wine of sun”. That’s quite evident by the fact that old vines tend to ripen later than neighbouring young vines and suffer much less from potential water stress, producing more consistent wines of complexity and finesse. We were not looking for fruit bombs to impress but for refined and subtle characters and ageing potential."
 You are a philosopher and a jazz musician as well as a winemaker. Can you tell us more about these passions?  "That’s all too generous, in fact, I have none of these titles. I did not complete my studies in philosophy due to the sudden death of my father so I cannot call myself a philosopher. My passion for philosophy is due to my classics studies and when it was time to chose the University, my father suggested to go for philosophy because, he said, 'when you will
finish your study you will not find a job and can come to help me to sell some
wine!'  "That’s exactly what happened, just with the wrong circumstances. About jazz, I always wanted to become a piano player and I’ve studied a lot for this but in the end, I was not good enough to make a career and I quickly understood there was no point in dreaming of being the new Keith Jarrett, so I became a well trained amateur and I gave up playing in public.  "As for winemaking, I don’t have a formal education given that I had to work and did not have time to study at University, so I started a process of self-education in a kind of backwards process, from my instinctive ability to be a good taster, moving gradually to all the
knowledge which drives the production of wine, from the vineyards to the cellar.  "It took me years and the support of many friends who allowed me to verify my skills in their cellars. The results of my 'experiments' were very promising and convinced me to go deeper in my studies until the point of being able to take full responsibility for wine production as I’ve been doing for the last 20 years." Read more Editorial 

We caught up with Christian Patat to talk about his old-vine project with Marco Simonit – L’Età Più Bella – which will include its first collection of wines from top sites in Friuli this summer

Christian Patat on his old-vine project with Marco Simonit – L’Età Più Bella – which expands to include top sites in Friuli this summer

The wines of Friuli-Venezia Giuli

Christian Patat on the wines of Friuli-Venezia Giuli

Marco Simonit has become something of a celebrity in the world of wine, but his specialisation – pruning – is not normally considered glamorous. Pruning is often low-paid work left to contract crews. But with his childhood friend Pierpaolo Sirch, he set up the Simonit&Sirch pruning consultancy that now has a team of 20 experts operating all over the wine world.  Partly this is because of the rise in grapevine trunk diseases, which are considered a major threat to viticulture. Simonit’s pruning methods are suddenly in high demand because they have the potential to vastly reduce the risk of trunk diseases. Now, in conjunction with FINE+RARE, he has made his first wines from old vines in Collio. The origins of Marco’s interest in the vine began with his background. "I lived with my grandparents because my father died and my mother worked," he says. "They had a small farm with cows, horses, sheep and goats, and also a small vineyard to make wine for the family’s consumption."  He says that it was a good environment to grow up in, surrounded by nature with a gentle pace of life. His real passion was animals, though – not vines – and he had set his heart on becoming a vet. But after studying agriculture at the local college in Cividale in Friuli, he had to take a job. He began working as the technical adviser for the Consorzio of the Collio DOC in 1988, a role he was to fulfill for a decade, offering guidance to growers on viticulture. "I loved the landscapes, and I loved to observe the trees, plants and hills," he recalls.  Then one day, he started drawing vines. "After work, I would go to the fields, and I drew the vines," says Simonit. "I drew the trunk and the arms and the canes and leaves, and I met the wounds. There were a lot of wounds. I started to think about what it must be like for the vine." Observing the pruning wounds and their effects on the old vines made a big impression on him. He asked a viticulturist if he could pull out an ailing old vine, and when he got permission, he approached one of his friends who was a carpenter. "I asked him if it would be possible to help me make a section through an old vine," Simonit recalls. "He said, this is a strange request. Why do you want to do this? I said I wanted to see inside."  So with the aid of the carpenter, Simonit cut the vine in half. "It wasn’t completely dead but it wasn’t in good health," he says. "It had an extraordinary impact on me: when I saw inside, a big part of the vine was destroyed. A small part of the wood was white (alive), but most of the inside of the trunk and the arm was brown and black, and with fungi. I was shocked." At that time no one in the schools and universities had sectioned vines to look at the consequences of pruning. "I called my professors and I spoke about this, and the professors said, Marco, since the beginning people have always approached pruning the vines in same way, so why are you going crazy taking the trunk and making sections to see what is happening inside? Just do a normal pruning like everyone has always done." None of the professors he spoke to were interested in his ideas. But he decided to carry on.  His growing obsession with old vines led him to start travelling, initially around Italy, and then further afield. He saw a similar pattern everywhere. "In these years the viticulture was changing," he says. "A lot of local training systems, such as pergola in Trentino, tendone in Abruzzo and albarello in Sicilia, were being transformed."  People were turning to more ‘modern’ ways of training vines, such as vertical shoot positioning (VSP), and then after 20 years these new vineyards were starting to lose vines to trunk disease. "The spacing for growing the vines wasn’t enough," he says. "In its natural state, the vine is a creeper, a liana. For sure, it is not easy for the vine to remain in the same position for a lot of time, with domesticated demands, without consequences for its health and longevity." He came back to Collio. "I asked some viticulturists if it would be possible for me to try to change the approach of the pruning in modern vineyards. I wanted to change the approach to pruning because the consequences were terrible. The response was they said they didn’t really understand what I wanted to do, but they let me try. In the beginning of 1990 I started to introduce a new technical approach to pruning and shoot thinning by myself in different places in Friuli." Simonit didn’t have a program, and at the time hadn’t heard of Guyot-Poussard pruning, which is an old system that’s somewhat similar to the technique he developed himself. Over a ten-year period he tried to find new solutions, observing old vines and applying different approaches. After this period of experimentation, he thought he had something worthwhile, and he began to approach professors and viticulturists, only to meet with disinterest. Attilio Scienza, professor of viticulture at Milan University, was the exception, though. "Scienza said to me, it is interesting what you do," he recalls.   "Scienza was impressed with my work and started to speak about it with important producers in Italy, such as Bellavista and Ferrari," says Simonit. "And in Schiopetto we built our campus, our laboratory. In Schiopetto today it is possible to see and touch the last 30 years of my work." This was the early 2000s, and although Simonit was starting to get his first consulting gigs, he wasn’t sure that pruning was going to be his professional future.  "But I thought: I believe in this. I had a passion for vines and wanted to help reduce the risks from bad pruning. And I thought, maybe the top wineries in Italy might be interested in my new approach for pruning and shoot thinning. I tried to call these guys and show them what I was doing in the campus of Schiopetto. One day I was in my car, and I looked up Angelo Gaja’s number. I thought this guy might be interested because the wines are expensive and high quality. Maybe he would be interested to keep his heritage vines." "I called and asked the secretary whether I could speak with Angelo." He was stunned to be put through to him. "I told him that I’d worked in a lot of vineyards over the last five years to find a new solution for pruning and shoot thinning, and I asked him if he was interested in coming to Friuli to see it in action.  He said yes, and two weeks later he came along with his entire team from Piemonte and Tuscany to Friuli. They were really impressed, and a few weeks later I had contracts with Angelo Gaja, Ferrari and Bellavista." This was in 2003, and Simonit finally began to see that this was going to be his future. He took his approach all over Italy, working with some of the top estates, including Frescobaldi, Planeta, Tasca d’Almerita, Feudo di San Gregorio and Ornellaia.  What is different about the Simonit approach?  There is no recipe because vineyards, regions and training systems are all different. But there are two main principles. The first is that the sap flow of the vine has to be respected, and pruning cuts are made with this in mind. The second is what Simonit describes as ‘ramification’. "One of the big principles for respecting vines is independent of the training system you use, or the variety," he says.  "It is ramification. You first build the trunk (the first structure), then the arms (the second structure). It is like a chronology. You need to build a chronology of wood." He points out that the vine is naturally a creeper, and that pruning should respect this as much as possible. "Our principle rule is ramification. Build a chronology of live wood: first floor, second floor, third floor and so on."  So, for example, with a double Guyot, the canes chosen on each side of the vine should be furthest from the head each time, with the replacement spur the outside cane, and the cuts should always be made on the upper branch. When a cut is made, it should be of young wood only – one or two years old. And the cut should not be made flush to the trunk, because there is always what is called a ‘cone of dessication’, roughly equal to one-and-a-half times the diameter of the cut, where the wood left dies back. This can interfere with the sap flow and make the vine susceptible to trunk disease.  But respecting the sap flow isn’t always key. "Not all the varieties suffer if you don’t respect the sap flow," says Simonit. "Some varieties are very sensitive, like Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Sangiovese. Others don’t suffer a lot. For example, Nebbiolo and Semillon. I work for Château d’Yquem. They called me because the Sauvignon Blanc is being destroyed by trunk disease after 20 years. The Semillon is not: it has super energy and lives a long time, because the genetics are different." "But always respect the ramification. If you think about the albarello in Primitivo in Puglia, they grow up vertically. The arms of the Primitivo grow up vertically. It isn’t possible to respect the sap flow. For other examples of alberello training with different varieties, such as Moscato d’Alexandria, to follow the sap flow is necessary. We need to find solutions for each variety in each terroir: it’s not always possible to take the same approach." Bordeaux came calling A big moment for Simonit was when he was contacted by the late Denis Dubourdieu in 2011. "Denis called me from Bordeaux, because with the Guyot Médocaine, after years and years, there wasn’t enough space for the canes. They wanted to know what to do." If canes are taken from the outside each time, after a while the vines grow out along the row, and when the planting is close, they run out of space.  In Bordeaux, their solution was to take a shoot from inside, close to the head, and then lay that down after cutting the old arm off. Often, this would result in fatal trunk disease. "They destroyed a lot of vines this way, trying to regain the space and reduce the risk of congestion of canes overlapping," says Simonit. "This was a disaster for the Médoc and all the double Guyots in the world, because the big wounds destroyed the vines." "We started with a new approach in the Médoc, introducing the spur in the sap flow, building the chronology, preparing new exits for two or three years in the way of the sap flow, and then cutting the big arm, far away from the position of the new spur. This is one of the smart solutions when you have lost a lot of spacing. But this problem is particularly present when the distance between the vines was not enough in the first place when they were planted." Simonit now has many prestigious clients in Bordeaux. The dangers of high-density planting High-density planting is very popular these days, but it is causing problems because the vines are planted too close to allow for sustainable pruning approaches. "The risk is that if you don’t have the idea of the vine architecture at the beginning for the next 50 or 60 years, it becomes a problem. I see this problem all over the world, not only in the double Guyot, but also in Bourgogne and Champagne and Provence: everywhere. The big problem is people and space: people are scared to leave space for vines. Then to create space they use pruning, and it is a disaster." "In the past in Bordeaux, particularly in the Médoc, the Cabernet Sauvignon was planted further apart. Now we find Cabernet Sauvignon vines planted 80cm apart. We need to think about this for the future sustainability of vines and vineyards. We need to speak about the space. If we build vineyards for the next generation we need to think about the spacing." One idea that Simonit has adopted from Dubourdieu was ‘curetage’. Dubourdieu gifted Simonit with a book: this was René Lafon’s 1921 title Modifications à apporter à la taille de la vigne des Charentes, taille Guyot-Poussart mixte et double: l'apoplexie, traitement préventif (méthode Poussard), traitement curative.  This book described the experiments on pruning carried out by Eugène Poussard, a viticulturist in the Charentes area. Poussard is responsible for the vine pruning system called ‘Guyot Poussard’, which is very similar to Simonit’s system. But he also treated affected vines using ‘curetage’, cutting away affected wood. "More than 150 years ago this man was trying to do some surgery on the vines with rudimentary tools," says Simonit. "Denis asked me to go to Sancerre, because he knew that a lot of older viticulturists had used small chainsaws to open the vines and clean the wood affected by fungi, and the vines survived." They headed to the Loire and visited different vineyards. Sancerre has been particularly badly hit because Sauvignon Blanc is very susceptible. "We shared experiences with François Dal [another pruning expert who works for Sicavac, the regional technical body], and he was also interested in working with chainsaws. We tried doing this surgery in the wineries of Denis Dubourdieu, like Château Reynon, Doisy-Daëne and Floridène. In 2014 we began teaching others how to do this." As soon as the first foliar symptoms are seen, then any soft wood that has been infected by the fungi is cut out of the trunk. The infected wood produces toxins, and once it is taken out, the vine usually recovers.   FINE+RARE x Simonit&Sirch Now, for the first time, Simonit has begun making wine from old vines, in conjunction with FINE+RARE. "On my trips and jobs around the world, I met a lot of old vines, and sometimes these vines are not vinified separately," he says. Making small parcels of wine appeals to him. "It is a ways of speaking to people about the importance of old vines for increasing the identity of wines, speaking about vineyard sustainability, and thinking about the relation between humans and vines." He adds, "I wanted to make wines that speak about this philosophy." "Patrick O’Connor [of FINE+RARE] and I share a mutual friend, and he knew about my idea," says Simonit. "One day Patrick called me to ask me if it’s possible to organise a meeting because he was interested in this old vines project. He was very excited about the idea, and he proposed starting this project in Friuli, where my heart is." "He asked me which varieties were most interesting for me. I chose Sauvignon because I love it, and it is very difficult to have old vine Sauvignon because of trunk disease. Many of the vineyards have vines of different ages, because after 25 years the original vines often begin dying, and people co-plant with new vines. Then they make wine with all the vines – young and old – together. Also, I chose Chardonnay: in Colli Orientali we have the oldest Chardonnay in Friuli, 80 years old. And after I chose Friulano, which is 50 years old." Winemaking is in the hands of Christian Patat, an old friend of Simonit’s. "Twenty years ago we started with a small project but it stopped because we were both so busy. So when FINE+RARE and I began working, I spoke to Christian seeing if he could make the wines. He married the owner of Ronco de Gnemiz, and he makes the wines there. This guy has an approach to wine that’s close to mine – we like the same sort of wines. Our goal was to make two or three barrels of each variety." This is Marco’s first wine project. "I have never thought about making wine before. Now I’d like to expand this project to other Italian regions, and also other countries, with a small production focusing only on old vines." "It is a unique approach because we try to vinify with just the oldest vines. In the Chardonnay project, for example, we don’t use all the vines. Part of the vineyard is 80 years old. We pick only the grapes from the original old vines to make this wine from. These wines speak about the relationship between humans and vines, sustainability, the importance of the age of the vine, the importance of terroir." Tasting notes The wines are called L’Età Più Bella (With Age Comes Beauty), and will be released as a mixed case of three separate cuvées – a Chardonnay, a Friuliano and a Sauvignon Blanc. L’Età Più Bella Sauvignon 2018 - Collio, Italy "13% alcohol. Lean, taut and chiselled, this is a bright lemony Sauvignon with good acidity and some fine herbal hints. It’s quite compact and mineral with precision and focus, finishing quite taut. Stylish stuff." L’Età Più Bella Friulano 2018 - Friuli Colli Orientali, Italy "14% alcohol. There’s good density here with taut pear, apple and lemon fruit, as well as a touch of richness on the mid-palate. This has a lovely focus, combining some richer notes with good acidity and a long, mineral, subtly nutty finish. Beguiling and elegant. " L’Età Più Bella Chardonnay 2018 - Friuli Colli Orientali, Italy "13% alcohol. Hazelnut, spice, honey and citrus on the nose. The palate has fresh fruit with an appealing cedary, woody, spicy undercurrent. Citrus, pear and white peach, with a warm spicy finish. Lovely intensity here, with good fruit purity." Explore more Editorial 

Self-confessed wine anorak Jamie Goode explores Marco Simonit’s rise to fame – from his formative years with his grandparents in Friuli, to the establishment of his successful pruning consultancy Simonit&Sirch – and the ideologies that have influenced his first wines made from old vines in Collio

Wine anorak Jamie Goode explores Marco Simonit’s rise to fame with his Friuli wine estate and tastes L’Età Più Bella Chardonnay, Sauvignon and Fruiliano  

'Wine Anorak' Jamie Goode speaks to Marco Simonit

'Wine Anorak' Jamie Goode meets Marco Simonit

Since the ban on chemical prevention came into practice across Europe in the early 2000s, vine disease has grown to epidemic proportions, including in some of the world's most prized vineyards. Marco Simonit's methodology of using non-invasive, gentle pruning techniques and shunning any chemical additives has brought him many endorsements from wineries around the world. He has advised at over 100 wineries and currently has a team of 25 international consultants working for him, including at top estates such as Domaine Leroy, Ch. d’Yquem and Champagne House Louis Roederer.  In an interview conducted just weeks before the Coronavirus lockdown began, Simonit outlines the philosophy behind the L’Età Più Bella (With Age Comes Beauty) range of wines. L’Età Più Bella (With Age Comes Beauty) is a collection of wines produced entirely from old vines from Marco Simonit’s home region of Friuli – arguably Italy’s top region for white wine. Simonit states “the idea of the project is to identify the distinct character one gets from wines made exclusively from old vines. It also provides a true terroir blueprint of that vine. More than that and what is the key impetus behind the project was to produce something that would come to be a physical embodiment of the Simonit&Sirch philosophy.”  This project has been a dream for Simonit for the past 20 years. “By having a bottle of wine on the table I hope it will create conversation about the world we live in, the environmental issues that surround food and wine production and the efforts made to make such production sustainable,” he says. The importance of protecting old vines is multifaceted. Simonit states, “First and foremost it promotes sustainable viticulture without an over-reliance on water and chemicals. Old vines with deeper roots are effectively dry-grown – with the deep roots feeding from water locked into the soils. Young vines (depending on the climate) rely on irrigation in their early years and continual replanting of young vines leads to a huge increase in water requirements.” “Fundamentally the project is to provide sustainable viticulture under the threats of global warming,” he says. Being organic/biodynamic, according to Simonit, is not enough in light of current threats to the environment. "Vines have to be stronger and self-sufficient if they are to survive the increasing climatic pressures. The current volume of fertilisers and water is not sustainable in the long-term future," he adds. Old vines are also more sustainable in terms of water requirements and self-sufficient when it comes to nutrients not needing to rely on chemical fertilisers to keep the plants operational. Simonit explains: “A healthy vine (free of pathogens) has much more live wood on the vine which means much healthier capillaries and is therefore much more resistant to the stress and strains of the growing season – whether that be pathogenic fungal disease, hydric stress or other diseases typically found in a vineyard.” Educating the vigneron and the wine lover For Simonit, this project is a plea for wine lovers to understand the fragility of future production in many fine wine regions of the world. “In the world, there are old vineyards at risk of being uprooted, or not valued," he says. "In this case, it is their uniqueness that makes the difference and I want the L’Età Più Bella range of wines to become a means of talking about the importance of vines reaching advanced age (an approach completely at odds with many producers in Italy currently). "I want to make people understand through a product how important these ancient vineyards are, and how through tasting the wines one can go deep into the territory, the vineyard, and the single plant and its conditions of health.”  Vine-by-vine assessment “There is no mass approach when dealing with vines like these,"Simonit explains. "All plants are different, just like men and animals. The extraordinary work is to understand plant-by-plant how many bunches, how many leaves to leave, whether to trim and in what way.  "Soils are analysed, which is fundamental for maintaining the radical system. It takes a lot of energy, willpower and time because the individual plants are treated within the vineyard, and then you have to be severe. The grapes entice you, but you have to respect the plants as individuals.” Vine pruners as a skilled workforce More than that, Simonit wants the project to be an opportunity to bring focus on the regions where the wines originate, as well as the growers who produce the grapes. “It is important for me to have consistent relations with growers who share the old-vine philosophy and values and have detailed knowledge and approaches to their vines.  "But the project also brings the philosophy to the growers. By producing the wine, the growers themselves become further involved, recognising the benefits of the preservation of the old vines and how these wines would further promote their region.” An additional benefit that has stemmed from the old-vine project and the adoption of Marco Simonit’s gentle pruning techniques is that it has reawakened the craft skills of traditional vine pruning that have been lost due to the introduction of chemical and machine farming during the latter half of the 20th century.  Marco Simonit’s pruning school and one-to-one consultancy with vignerons and their workers all over the world have introduced new skills to individuals that have been underappreciated as part of a low-paid, unskilled workforce, often working in poor conditions and with minimal social support as is the case with many seasonal workers. “Training up pruners has become part of a social responsibility," explains Simonit, “not only improving the health of the vines but also creating a skilled workforce that through vine protection and a reduction in chemical use has been a financial benefit to both wineries and their workforce”. Marco states “the social impact of training vineyard workers has been recognised by government initiatives in Europe who have worked with us to help increase the skillset and employability of immigrants in parts of Italy with the end result having a beneficial effect on their individual lives and the communities involved.” “Where better than to start” he states, "than in my home region of Friuli in Northern Italy". A region whose reputation continues to grow and is now widely recognised as the country’s finest for top white wine which competes with some of the finest in the world. They make pretty good red wines there too. Born and raised in Friuli, Simonit couldn’t think of a better place where he could bring the philosophy to life: “Friuli needs a project that speaks about Friuli.” 30 years is an old vine (for Sauvignon Blanc) A common issue in vineyards around the world today is vines dying at just 20 years of age, requiring them to be pulled out and replanted. The vine is not even operational in terms of production for at least three years of growth. The longer the life of the vine can be extended, means a huge reduction in both economic as well as environmental pressures. At 15-20 years old, the vine will have good adaptation to its soil, consistency in its production and will be much more self-sufficient. "The Sauvignon comes from a 30-year-old vineyard, but 30 years may seem young in an 'old vines' context but 30 years for Sauvignon is a lot. For example, Sancerre vines have a maximum lifespan of 25 years. And it is very rare to find it older than this, it is one of the most sensitive varieties to diseases.  Speaking of the pandemic, since we are on the subject, there were the pandemics of Sauvignon and Cabernet Sauvignon: they are the most sensitive varieties to diseases, there were international experts who have tried to investigate this theme. In France for example the producers that lost their plants to disease, planted younger plants, and they made wine from old and young plants together, but the wine was no longer the same. Because the difference is made by the wine that is obtained only from the original plants, without the 'interference' of the new plants. "Sauvignon gets sick from pruning wounds, fungi enter that destroy the plants and kills them. It is very difficult to find single original Sauvignon plants. That is why the Simonit&Sirch method performs pruning cuts that do not ruin the path of the lifeblood of the plant. "Ultimately we want to tell these things through wines. With a point of view that no one has ever taken into consideration, because we invest in people and because we respect the plants over time. "It is no longer enough to say that you are 'bio' to guarantee a good job, you need to do a lot more to be sustainable. And our job is to tell everybody this.” True terroir relies on old vines An additional and worthy benefit at the premium end of production lies in an old vine's ability to produce grapes with a true blueprint of its terroir. Simonit agrees with Lalou Bize-Leroy’s philosophy that a true terroir of a particular site requires a vine that is at least 15 years old, since a well-established vine produces a wine that is more about the soil than the individual characteristics of the sun. Old vines with deeper roots are also much less affected by vintage variation. These are wines made from their roots rather than wines made from the sun. For Simonit, the importance of the project lies in “the increase of education, sensibilities and sustainability. The importance of my pruning technique is understanding that, left alone, vines will survive very well. The problem lies in when the vine is domesticated and such domestication, if done badly, can weaken the vine, increase the pathological stress to the plant, leading to an early death.”  Browse more Editorial 

Marco Simonit has been at the forefront of modern viticulture techniques aimed at protecting old vines from disease and decay for the past decade. Gavin Smith speaks to him about his pioneering philosophy

Pioneering viticulturalist Marco Simonit on the philosophy behind his L’Età Più Bella wines. 

Marco Simonit on why old vines matter

Every now and then, the word ‘singularity’ is used to describe a particular wine that stands apart, for whatever reason, from other wines of its type. But just what is singularity, and how can wine express it? Wine writer Tamlyn Currin investigates.

What makes a wine truly singular? Tamlyn Currin explores the rare bottles that defy convention and challenge the rules of the wine world.

Searching for Singularity in wine

Searching for Singularity

It’s easy to sneer at Sauvignon Blanc. Its success has been its downfall. It’s one of the most popular varieties planted around the world – coming in just behind Airén (grown widely for distillation, rather than wine) and Chardonnay. In New Zealand alone – a nation that has fully tied its cart to Sauvignon Blanc – 26,559 of its 41,603 hectares of vines are dedicated to the grape (for context, the entirety of Burgundy represents a little over 28,000 hectares). It accounts for over 86% of the nation’s wine exports (the next most exported variety is Pinot Noir, at less than 4%). And yet, wine cognoscenti are inclined to dismiss it.  The variety’s historic heartland is the Loire, where it was first recorded in the 16th century, but has since spread rampantly around the globe, finding its way into almost every corner. Indeed, there’s even a remote stretch of Burgundy dedicated to the grape (Saint-Bris). It also gave us Cabernet Sauvignon, of which it is a parent, along with Cabernet Franc – which is some legacy.  In her benchmark Vines, Grapes & Wines, Jancis Robinson MW describes Sauvignon Blanc as “aggressively recognisable”. With descriptors such as cat’s pee, gooseberry, passionfruit, capsicum, grapefruit and cut-grass stereotypical, it’s hard to disagree – but there’s much more to the grape. Today, the distinctive variety is responsible for the flinty styles of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé, more waxy, textured Bordeaux Blanc (where it is most often – but not always – blended with Semillon and aged in oak), the exuberantly pungent styles of Marlborough, richer, weightier northern Italian examples (not to mention many with extended skin contact) – and everything in between.  Ch. Margaux’s Pavillon Blanc is one of the most famous examples of Sauvignon Blanc – and rare in Bordeaux (at the top end of the category, at least) for not including any Semillon, which has never been planted on the site. Their archive has records back to the 18th century of a “vin de sauvignon” from the property. Tasting the wine, it’s always hard to believe it hasn’t been rounded out by its local partner – and this, Aurélien Valance, says is all to do with achieving the perfect level of ripeness.  “When [people] think Sauvignon Blanc, they think about unripe Sauvignon Blanc. When it is ripe, it can have very complex and floral perfume – but the problem is that it is very difficult to get it ripe and keep enough acidity,” the Deputy Managing Director explains. Working with old vines (around 50 years old), low yields and strict selection allows Ch. Margaux, however, to produce an exceptional, age-worthy white – one that “smells of Sauvignon Blanc – but not the Sauvignon Blanc that people are used to”. For Christian Patat – the winemaker behind L’Età Più Bella and Ronco del Gnemiz, who also worked at Miani – the perfect harvest date is key to giving Sauvignon “verticality”, especially in Friuli where the wines are naturally bigger and richer than those from the Loire. If you pick too late, it becomes all about the variety – rather than the site. For him, Sauvignon Blanc is an “amplifier of different soils”, which is why he has ended up making six different single-site expressions with his wife at Ronco del Gnemiz, all made the same way so that the terroir shines through in each. Omri Ram – of Société Civile du Ch. Lafleur – echoes this idea, feeling there’s a particularly narrow window for picking Sauvignon Blanc, before the variety becomes a caricature of itself. He argues there is a “valley between two aromatic peaks” in which Sauvignon Blanc must be harvested, a window that lasts maximum three days, but as little as 20 hours in a hot vintage – so it’s essential to watch your fruit carefully, and make sure it’s on the right soils (with clay to help retain freshness and avoid hydric stress).   Patat – like the team at Ch. Margaux – is fortunate to farm old Sauvignon vines, between 40 and 50 years in age. This is ancient for the variety, which is naturally vigorous and very susceptible to Eutypa and Esca (grapevine trunk diseases which slowly kill the vine), meaning finding vines above the age of 30 is increasingly rare. Marco Simonit – the man behind the Simonit & Sirch method and master pruner to the world’s leading producers – feels that vine age, however, is key to making a “vin de lieu” (a wine of place) – and therefore combatting the onset of disease is essential for crafting great Sauvignon Blanc. He notes how it’s not just that Sauvignon (referenced affectionately as “this guy” during our conversation) seems to be more inclined to develop Eutypa/Esca, but it suffers more when diseased – showing its symptoms much more than other vines, as is most clearly seen in Bordeaux where it is farmed side-by-side with Semillon.  “I think we need to reconsider the spacing and architecture of the vines,” Simonit says. He feels that these older vineyards have survived thanks to their wider spacing, allowing each vine more room to sprawl naturally. Robert Mondavi’s I Block is a prime example – the plot of Sauvignon Blanc in To Kalon planted in the mid-1940s. These untrellised, freestanding tree-like plants stand proud and sparse, producing wine that – in Mark de Vere MW’s words – offer “a different type of complexity, elegance”, yielding just half a ton an acre. Simonit is convinced that the increased vine density of the last 30 years has contributed to the higher incidence of grapevine trunk diseases, and this type of “dynamic” architecture, exemplified by the unfashionable California sprawl, may be the solution to Sauvignon Blanc’s short life-span, helping minimise pruning cuts and giving it the space it needs – but does need to be adapted to the individual site and climate.   Andy Erickson – winemaker at Favia and star consultant – now makes wine in To Kalon (under the To Kalon Vineyard Company label) – but has fond memories of I Block, as he would trespass to taste the Sauvignon Blanc at harvest time – loving the flavour of the grape just on the cusp of harvest. He was the one who suggested planting Sauvignon Blanc at Screaming Eagle – which produces a tiny amount (30-50 cases only) of incredibly sought-after Sauvignon. There was a tiny corner of the vineyard with more alluvial, clay soils – a site that wouldn’t produce a Screaming-Eagle-grade red, so he suggested it be used for Sauvignon Blanc and Musqué (an aromatic clone of the variety, also planted at Eisele Vineyard – where it represents 80% of the vineyard). “The challenge with Sauvignon Blanc is you really need to plant it on Cabernet Sauvignon ground to make the best wines, and so it takes someone who’s really passionate – or maybe a little crazy to do that,” Erickson says.  While the Loire’s top wines have always been accepted as fine wine, as with top white Bordeaux, Sauvignon Blanc under its own name didn’t make it big until the late 20th century. Robert Mondavi shifted perceptions in California – but only by rebranding the variety. In the late 1960s, at a time when most Sauvignon Blanc in America was low quality and sweet, he created Fumé Blanc – legally registering the term as a synonym for Sauvignon Blanc with the TTB (Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau). With its European feel (inspired of course by Pouilly-Fumé), he made dry, serious Sauvignon Blanc – and, at the top end, fermented the wine in oak. At the time, it was radical – and soon the wines earned international acclaim.  Meanwhile, something was going on Down Under. David Hohnen – who had just won a Jimmy Watson trophy for his Cabernet Sauvignon at Cape Mentelle, Margaret River – was visited by a handful of travelling Kiwi winemakers. They left him with a bottle of something new, a Sauvignon Blanc (which had only been planted for the first time in New Zealand in 1973). “He hadn’t tasted anything like it before,” Jim White, Cloudy Bay’s Technical Director, tells me. Hohnen happened to have a Kiwi cellar hand at the time, and asked him to bring back more Sauvignon when he went home for Christmas. In 1984, Hohnen went to New Zealand. He persuaded Kevin Judd – then winemaker at Selaks – to come make wine for him. They couldn’t find Sauvignon Blanc at first, so the first vintage in 1984 was a Marlborough Semillon. The following vintage, they bought a truckload of Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, and ferried it all the way up to Gisborne to make the wine.  With such a small population, machine harvesting was the only option in New Zealand – and this, combined with the additional skin contact from the fruit’s minimum 12-hour journey to Gisborne, extracted more tannin than they’d wanted, but also thiol precursors – the compounds responsible for Sauvignon’s pungent aromas. Hohnen didn’t put “New Zealand” on the front label, feeling people wouldn’t take it seriously. By 1986, they had built their own winery (having persuaded an angling-loving Scot to stump up a million dollars to fund the project, on the basis that he’d have access to the best trout fishing in the world). The vineyards needed work – and Hohnen’s experience was key, bringing knowledge of canopy management, reducing water and nitrogen and reducing yields. The wines took off, and Cloudy Bay was born.  For White, vineyard location is the foundation of top Sauvignon Blanc – needing stony, free-draining soils to contain the variety’s natural vigour, hence why they prefer the heart of the Wairau Valley. Combine this with enough leaf plucking to allow for sufficient airflow, but avoid over-exposing the fruit, and this allows them to harvest ripe fruit that still has beautiful acidity – echoing Valance’s views at Ch. Margaux. The important thing for them is to avoid the “big green monster” – ensuring they have no methoxypyrazines (green compounds), which happen to be some of the most stable compounds during maturation, and don’t disappear with time in bottle.  In New Zealand, the variety has been a victim of its own success – shoehorned as crisp, fresh and nothing more. And while that style brings undeniable joy, there are an increasing number of wines being made with wild yeast and oak to produce a less exuberant and primary style – such as Dog Point’s Section 94 and Greywacke’s Wild Sauvignon. In the Loire, it seems to be increasingly common to see oak, while in Bordeaux, there’s a shift away from, or toward reducing the use of, wood. As Pierre-Olivier Clouet of Cheval Blanc told me, in the past white Bordeaux was “too green, too excessive, too much, too oaky, too fat… too boring” – he feels that the answer isn’t necessarily to reduce the proportion of new oak, but to increase the size of barrels and age the wine longer, so that the oak adds a silkiness, density and bitterness to the finish – but not to the aromatics.   A common accusation of Sauvignon Blanc is that it doesn’t age – something many feel is a prerequisite for “fine” wine. But that simply isn’t true. If you’ve never tasted old Marlborough Sauvignon, you’re missing out. I had a bottle of 1999 Cloudy Bay a few years ago – and it was extraordinary. White, who has tasted many more mature vintages from the iconic estate than me, describes it as a little like old Semillon or Loire Chenin – developing toasty, honeyed notes, yet it retains the overt freshness and expressiveness of the distinctive style. Ch. Margaux was recently reconditioning their stocks of Pavillon Blanc, and Valance had the opportunity to taste vintages back to 1926 – almost all of which he says were fabulous. He feels it ages at least 20-30 years, and more in top years.  Today, things have come full circle – Sauvignon Blanc is a brand of its own, and Robert Mondavi is even dropping the “Fumé Blanc” phrasing from its more entry-level bottlings of the variety. But, despite this and the undeniable quality of the wines, Sauvignon Blanc never quite seems to steal the limelight. “There’s a glass ceiling for Sauvignon Blanc,” White says. “It’s about 93 points.” The Cloudy Bay team was delighted when their oaked, limited-edition Te Koko cuvée earned 95 points in Decanter last year – but it’s the exception, rather than the rule. And even though they’ve had wines score higher than Pavillon Blanc, they’ll rarely be considered in the same category as either those, or the likes of the Loire’s Dagueneau and Vatan. “It’s too easy for people to understand, it makes it too enjoyable – and therefore it’s no longer the coveted thing that you have to have years of education to appreciate,” White says.  In an age of unicorn-hunting, “popular” can be the ultimate insult. And yet there’s a reason that so many people have fallen for the charms of Sauvignon Blanc. Don’t let its commercial success put you off – there’s much more to this grape than first meets the eye.  Keep an eye out for our pick of the best Sauvignon Blanc from around the world – or, in the meantime, read more Editorial 

Maligned by many, adored by more, Sauvignon Blanc divides wine-drinkers – and no more so than the wine-drinking elite. But why? Sophie Thorpe talks to the people behind some of the world’s best examples to explore the grape’s status today

Sauvignon Blanc divides wine-drinkers – and no more so than the wine-drinking elite. But why? Cloudy Bay, Ch. Margaux, Andy Erickson and others tell us more

Sauvignon Blanc – fashion victim

Fashion victim: Sauvignon Blanc

Olivier Humbrecht was in London earlier this year giving a masterclass on single-vineyard Pinot Gris from Alsace. His motivation and his love for dry Pinot Gris evolves around the varietal being the greatest transmitter of terroir, much more so than its more famous sibling Riesling whose natural aromatics can conceal its terroir blueprint. Of course that was just the starting point of the masterclass and it quickly evolved into a much more in-depth conversation on the virtues of singular plots and the underpinning concepts of fine wine. We caught up with him to get further insight into his pioneering approach in viticulture which is being adopted by some of the finest wine producers in the world. The changing fortunes of Pinot Gris Humbrecht is a strong believer in the potential of Pinot Gris, a varietal that has ebbed and flowed in popularity through the last century. It is a varietal that due to its rather neutral primary attributes means it is perhaps more than any other grape, at the throes of its maker.  Styles vary greatly from the high-yielding neutral, phenolic, early picked and refreshing Pinot Grigio synonymous with northern Italy. At its worst, the variety produces a wine of almost no character and no sense of place. At its best, the dry, vibrant Pinot Grigio from Alto Adige can be fantastically intense, mineral and refreshing, whilst remaining fairly neutral on the palate. Pinot Grigio Romato styles in Friuli (a skin contact rose style) offer more flavor definition and
richness whilst at the same time being distinctly phenolic with vibrant acidity and a bitter bite keeping the wine refreshing and uniquely Italian in character.  The Pinot Gris of Alsace is typically later picked and completely different to the Italian style in its flavor profile, taking on a distinct honeysuckle, musk, smoky, toasty quality. Even within Alsace, this varietal has many faces. In the 1960s Olivier reminds us that Pinot Gris from Alsace was the most popular and most expensive wine in the region, but also the rarest and typically very sweet, as it is prone to noble rot resulting in intensely rich, opulent wines. In 1990 just 2% of the vineyards in Alsace were planted with Pinot Gris, today it is up to 15%. But Pinot Gris is not an easy grape to get right and whilst the early picked, neutral style of Northern Italy can crop at high levels with little issue, to make Pinot Gris with more aromatic character is much more difficult to get right and therefore becomes a much less reliable crop and accounts for the small amounts grown in Alsace. It is a varietal very prone to rot due to its thin skin. In ideal conditions, this makes it ideal for noble rot but in less than perfect conditions grey rot is more common making the grapes not suitable for fine wine. The rot will often result in aborted fermentation.  The varietal is also very quick to ripen. If not picked in a very small picking window, the alcohols could shoot up too high making a healthy fermentation very difficult and, more often than not, leading to high levels of residual sugar in the wine, whether you want it or not. Olivier outlines that just taking a weekend off during harvest could amount to a potential 1.5% abv increase when returning to the vines on Monday morning. In under a week, the potential alcohol could have gone up by 3% abv.  Picking the wines too early also has its problems. All the flavor and aromas in the varietal develop at the final stages of ripening, picking early will produce wines with little complexity and character. This tricky little grape is no doubt the reason why so little was planted in the region despite the popularity of the top Pinot Gris sweet wines. The recent increase in plantings in Alsace however has not been brilliantly successful. For Olivier too much Pinot Gris has been planted in inadequate sites and using higher yielding commercial clones. For Olivier, top Pinot Gris from Alsace must come from the traditional petit grains clone that is naturally low-yielding. Olivier likes each vine to produce just 2 clusters producing just 25-30 hectolitres per hectare. These cropping levels are necessary to produce fine wine examples from the grape. Olivier’s interest in Pinot Gris is down to its relatively neutral character making it a great transmitter of terroir, more so than Riesling whose natural aromatic presence can conceal terroir characters. Fairly neutral flavour characters also mean it remains very much a winemaker’s wine, as the vigneron can determine the style of the wine with lees work, oak maturation, and the retention of malolactic fermentation, providing the grapes come in clean, free of rot. Olivier believes élevage on full lees makes a very important difference to the flavor of the wine. The lees nourish the wine through ageing, producing a much more complex
flavour profile. It brings a smokiness and toasty character to the wine as well as a more reductive “mineral” character. Global warming It is rare to hear a vigneron say that global warming has improved the quality of their
wines, but Olivier honestly states that, for the moment, global warming has benefited his wines. What it has done is bring flowering forward, possibly up to three weeks earlier which shunts all the growing season forward, this means the all-important veraison period (sugar concentration in the grapes) is beginning to happen three weeks earlier.  Rather than waiting for grapes to ripen in September as the days are getting shorter and the weather much less reliable, veraison is now happening at the height of the summer enabling the wines to reach optimum ripeness quicker preventing the onset of rot – which in poorer weather becomes a lot more common.  Biodynamic since 1998, Olivier has seen a really positive effect in the vineyard. The grapes are able to ripen faster, reaching physiological ripeness quicker, which enables Olivier to make dry Pinot Gris packed with flavor. This, he believes, is because chemical applications shock the vines, causing them to shut down for a number of days following the application. If you continue to spray chemical applications throughout the growing season, each time this happens the vine shuts down and you lose valuable days of ripening.  Under biodynamic principles, the vines don’t go through these shock / shutting-down
phases. This allows Olivier to pick earlier and he is the first to harvest the Pinot Gris compared to his neighbours. This he believes is largely due to his grapes ripening faster, due to his viticultural techniques.  It means he can get his wines to reach aromatic complexity whilst still being able to bring them in early enough free of rot and therefore enabling a fermentation to dryness. The reason for Olivier's interest in producing dry styles of Pinot Gris is so he can show off the terroir characteristics of each of his sites without being concealed by sweetness. Tasting the different vineyards shows just how different each of the sites is and only further promotes Pinot Gris as the ultimate transmitter of terroir. A pioneer of modern-day viticulture Speaking with top viticulturalists all over the world, you realise a huge amount of their knowledge stems from Olivier Humbrecht, whose understanding of managing vine growth originated from a university lecture he attended in the 1980s, given not by a viticulturist, but a plant physiologist.  From this lecture, Olivier understood that modern-day hedging techniques in the vineyard were really detrimental to fruit production. Olivier explains the domesticated vine goes through two very different stages in its growth period. Stage one is the phase of cellular multiplication i.e. the growth of the vine – flowering, budding, leaf production etc. Stage two is the nourishment phase in which the vine stops growing and instead starts to nourish the pips in the grapes, to promote future cellular growth when the seeds are dispersed.  The problem with modern hedging techniques is that it disturbs stage one when the vine is
on the verge of moving to stage two, therefore encouraging the vine to carry out stage one and two at the same time, meaning the grape isn’t getting full nourishment at the period of veraison as some of the vine’s energy is going into vine growth. The key for Olivier is to get stage two to follow on from stage one rather than the vines trying to do both at the same time. Preventing canopy growth, however, requires a lot more manual work. Olivier states it
requires 20 men to tie up the vines manually compared to one tractor hedging the vines. One possible solution could be to hedge the vines earlier in the growth phase so as not to disrupt the vine later in the season switching from stage 1 to stage 2 but Olivier explains this is not a good approach. Tartaric acid is key to any white wine, and it is the necessary backbone to any wine.  Tartaric acid is produced by the leaves. Olivier emphasizes that many people wrongly
think leaves only create sugar through photosynthesis, but they are necessary for producing a whole array of essential nutrients, hormones and the all-important production of tartaric acid. The secret lies in extended canopy growth. I said to Olivier this sounds exactly what Lalou
Bize Leroy does in Burgundy and he admits that he visited her years ago and told her his ideas on canopy management and she clearly took his advice. Whilst it is incredibly high maintenance and an expensive operation, two of the world’s leading winemakers Humbrecht and Leroy are advocates of the system and that should be enough for any vigneron to at least consider the technique, despite the additional costs it entails.  The single vineyards Rotenburg The Rotenburg vineyard is a cooler north-facing slope facing the Vogues mountains. Made up of red marl on a limestone bedrock with very shallow brick colour soil (containing high iron content). All this amounts to slower ripening, naturally lower vigour and tiny yields. Olivier typically crops at 25 hectolitres per hectare. Olivier states what is great about this vineyard when made in the dry style, the effect of the limestone really comes through on the palate. Tasting through the 2017, ’16 and ’13 the wines share a wonderful aromatic complexity.
Easily the most floral and perfumed of the three vineyards. There is a wonderful chalky minerality to the wine, almost top quality Chablis but with a softer texture and more perfumed. With age, the aromas and flavours only further develop whilst retaining a wonderful intensity. The wine remains very clean despite its age, showing very little tertiary
development just lovely orange rind and honeysuckle notes. The chalky limestone
minerality brings sharp focus and intensity to the finish. Clos Windsbuhl The first vintage for Zind Humbrecht on this site was the 1988 vintage. Another limestone/
clay site overlooking the church of Sainte Hune (famous for the Trimbach’s Clos Sainte Hune cuvee). Facing south, south-east with a steep slope between 15 – 40% this is a high altitude site at 350 metres. A 6.5 hectares site planted mostly to Pinot Gris. Due to the
altitude and soil the grapes ripens very slowly, often on the precipice of reaching ripeness before the wine gets affected by noble rot.  Tasting through the ’17, ’16 and ’13 what is immediate in the comparison is how the wine
develops with age. At just three years of age, the wine remains compact, at seven years of age it is incredibly complex on the palate. The primary notes have retained their zesty vivacity but the flavours become broad from russet apple, manuka honey and sultanas and a wonderful salinity and stony minerality on the finish. The wine becomes more and more focused on the finish. Clearly, the wine is affected by vintage too. The ’16 is a more difficult vintage making the wine a lot less intense than the ’17 and the ’13 but throughout the lineup, the salinity and stony minerality comes through on the palate – a distinct characteristic
of the limestone soil. Rangen de Thann Unlike Rotenburg and Clos Windsbuhl, Rangen de Thann is made up of volcanic soil, very
dark basalt rock, rich in magnesium and potassium and low in calcium so lower acidity, higher pH. The slope is the steepest in Alsace with a 41-degree slope. The vineyard has an incredibly high vine density at 10,000 vines per hectare. It is in fact one of the warmer regions of Alsace therefore you would expect it to be one of the first to ripen, but the cold wind that flows through the valley slows the ripening making it the last vineyard Oliver harvests. This is typically the lowest-yielding site at Zind Humbrecht at 20 – 30 hectolitres per hectare. The volcanic soil offers a completely different blueprint to the wine. Texturally the wine is much more oily and rich. The flavours are more pumice stone, peppery, matcha tea and then this distinct Brazil nut flavor. There are no tropical notes at all in its youth and very much more savoury in style. With age the ’13 vintage shows more tropical notes, the texture becomes unctuous in its oiliness, it feels like there is sweetness despite being a dry wine. These wines lack the vibrancy from the limestone but offer more richness, texture and darker fruit and savoury flavour profile. Explore more Editorial

Meeting with Olivier Humbrecht is always an insightful experience. Not only is he incredibly
erudite in his approach to viticulture and winemaking but he has the rare talent of being able to communicate fairly complex ideas around the subject in a very clear and digestible manner. 

An insight into Olivier Humbrecht's pioneering biodynamic approach to viticulture that is now widely adopted by many of the world's fine wine producers 

Olivier Humbrecht, a genius of wine

Olivier Humbrecht: A genius of wine

When it comes to whisky, the conversation has long been dominated by maturation – on how long the liquid spends slumbering in which cask, on how big the cask is and what it held before, whether a Sherry butt, wine barrique, first-fill Bourbon barrel or the fashionable mizunara. Recently, there’s been an increased focus on the base product, with producers such as Waterford’s Mark Reynier championing single-site, single-barley, terroir-driven whiskies (and rums, with his Renegade project). But, somehow, there’s a tendency to skip on by the magic that happens in between: distillation.  While grain whisky is column distilled, malt whisky is almost exclusively distilled in copper pot stills – indeed, it’s a legal requisite for Scotch whisky. Crafting these copper beauties is an art – and one that depends on a handful of specialists. Kentucky has Vendome, Germany has Kothe and CARL, Italy has Frilli and Scotland has Forsyths. The equipment these coppersmiths produce lays the foundation the DNA of its new-make.  To the untrained eye, these onion-shaped pieces of kit look almost identical, but the size and shape is distinct to each distillery – defining its style. As distilleries expand and increase production, they don’t buy a bigger still – but commission exact replicas of their existing still(s), with every dent and dimple carefully recreated. Macallan, famously, replaced all its stills when building its new state-of-the-art distillery in 2018, asking Forsyths to create 36 stills that were identical to those it had previously used.  Although there have been attempts to use other metals, copper has long been favoured for distilling – originally for its pliability, making it easy to work and shape. But by the early 20th century, it was apparent that copper had other benefits – stripping the spirit of impurities. As the vapour rises through the still, it reacts with the copper, capturing sulphur, cyanides, carbonates and acids, meaning the liquid that is eventually collected is purer. Coppersmiths play on this purifying effect to create a range of stills, for the longer the vapour spends in contact with the copper, the lighter the spirit you’ll produce. Take Glenmorangie’s tall, 17-feet-high stills which produce a very light spirit, and compare them to the small, squat stills and typically heavy spirit of the Macallan. Of course it’s not quite as simple as that. As well as the ratio of copper to liquid, the speed of distillation, the shape of the still, the size of the neck, the level of reflux, the angle of the lyne arm and venting of stills all have an impact.  Rothes-based Forsyths has been hammering copper into shape for Scotland’s leading distillers for over 150 years. Richard Forsyth OBE (who has now passed management of the business to his son, Richard Jr) was the third generation of his family to run the coppersmiths. The frank, self-effacing Scot remembers working in his father’s workshop aged 15, “I knew this is what I wanted to do… I found it fascinating.” And after 55 years, his eye still twinkles when he talks about the arch of a still’s swan neck, the art of wielding a planishing hammer and the characters that make the industry so interesting.   He joined the family business in 1967 – at what happened to be a pivotal moment for the industry. During the Second World War, the whisky business ground to a halt – and with it the need for stills. In the 1950s and ’60s, however, the industry grew rapidly – too rapidly, it turned out. What was a golden era turned into a whisky lake, with many distilleries soon mothballed. Forsyths – for whom 99% of its business was servicing the whisky industry – had to find something else to pay the bills, and it was up to Richard to find that something else. They branched out first into paper, then stainless steel and – by the late 1990s – oil and gas. Although coppersmithing remained the foundation and heart of the business, these other disciplines became the main money-makers until the early 2010s, when whisky’s current boomtime set in. Today, Forsyths maintains over half of the pot stills in Scotland. For a wash still (distilleries that double-distil have wash and spirits stills, first distilling the wash into “low wines” and then distilling the “low wines” into new-make spirit), the head, neck and condenser wears out in eight to 10 years, while the pot itself may last 25. Add to that developing new stills for the thriving industry – as well as their expansion into rum, Bourbon and tequila – and the company’s not short of work.   Although there is clear resistance to change with an industry that is entrenched in tradition, things have shifted, slowly but surely, over the years. And there have been two significant changes over the last century that have transformed the Scotch whisky world: the firing of stills and the nature of condensers.  When shell-and-tube condensers were invented in the 1880s, as an alternative to old-fashioned worm tubs, it took time for producers to be persuaded. Although shell-and-tube condensers are significantly more efficient and take up much less space, they are completely different – with the copper surface area at least 20 times larger, something which has a key impact on the spirit. To this day some producers (15 to be exact – including Craigellachie, Mortlach, Glen Elgin and Springbank, the latter only for their wash still) retain their worm tubs, valuing the heavier, richer, more complex (and in some instances, even meaty, savoury) spirit character.   Traditionally stills were direct-fired – heated by flames fed by peat, coal or gas. “It’s dirty, messy, difficult to handle – and to control,” Forsyth tells me. A push for safety and efficiency saw producers switch to using steam in the 1970s. But some argue that this shift wasn’t for the better. Fire created a less consistent heat, with hot spots that would burn the wash and promote Maillard reactions (the same reaction that takes place when you brown meat, or during the bottle-ageing of Champagne or other traditional-method sparkling wine) – adding nutty, roasted notes that build complexity, or so proponents would argue. Glenfarclas is known for having briefly dallied with steam before returning to direct-firing, along with the likes of Macallan, Glenfiddich and Springbank.  As the whiskies of this pre-modernisation era – Scotch’s so-called “golden age” – become increasingly coveted, distilleries (both new and old) are looking to recreate these practices. Along with traditional floor maltings, producers like Glen Garioch (owned by Suntory) and Dunphail are investing in direct-firing. (Although, with worm tubs no longer produced, new distilleries have little choice regarding shell-and-tube condensers.)  However they are fired, given their custom nature, copper pot stills don’t come cheap. Much of the work continues to be done by hand, hammering to strengthen and finish the copper. Stills can range from 5,000 to 50,000 litres in capacity, but an average 15,000-litre still and its condenser will require between 1,800 and 2,000 manhours, and set you back around £250,000. And that price has only increased recently, thanks to rising energy and material costs – with a copper shortage proving challenging for Forsyths, a business that is the UK’s second-biggest buyer of the metal.  With the distinct nature of stills and their impact on spirit, plenty of new producers will ask for copies of a particular distillery’s stills – wishing to emanate their style of spirit. Forsyth tells me how one Japanese customer requested a pair each of Macallan, Glenlivet and Glenrothes stills. While of course there are many problems with this imitation game, there’s also no guarantee – as Forsyth tells me – that the same equipment will have the same results, especially when not run with the same wash, in the same way, by the same people. And, of course, a company like Forsyths isn’t going to give away Macallan’s proprietary designs, for example. As such, they’ll recreate something similar, but ensure it’s tweaked so no two distilleries have exactly the same design.   But how much impact do stills really have on the final spirit? Despite his half-century in the trade, Forsyth is quick to suggest, “I don’t think a lowly coppersmith can talk too much about that.” He’s clear that you need good equipment to make good spirit, but it’s one factor in amongst everything else – the barley, water and fermentation times, for example. And how a still is used is as important as its shape or size, with both the speed of distillation and the all-important cuts – dividing the heart from the foreshots and feints. Forsyth firmly believes that good wood is “the single biggest effect in a bottle eight, 10 or 12 years later”. There’s little use having a good base spirit if it’s ruined by a decade in bad oak – but good oak also can’t salvage bad spirit.  Forsyth has seen it all during his 55 years in the whisky business – and has been forced to be as malleable as the metal his family has worked for generations to survive the booms and busts. Despite the challenges, the coppersmith is as enchanted by his trade as when he first picked up a hammer in his father’s workshop. The industry will doubtless continue to ebb and flow, but with a spirit that takes decades to produce, the pace of change is reassuringly gentle. “It almost goes as slow as the running of the spirit,” Forsyth says whimsically. The still room remains the beating heart of distilleries – the basis of a producer’s fingerprint, all thanks to the careful hammering of the artful coppersmith.  Browse all current Scotch whisky listings or read more about spirits  

There’s something romantic about the bulbous sheen of a copper pot still. These behemoths glimmer with the promise of fine spirit – but it’s rare that we talk about what happens within. Sophie Thorpe sat down with Richard Forsyth OBE of Scotland’s leading coppersmiths, Forsyths, to find out more 

Cult coppersmiths Forsyths on the art of crafting copper pot stills for the biggest names in Scotch whisky – and how they define a distillery’s spirit style

How copper pot stills define whisky styles

Copper craft: the art of the still

Friuli

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