Wines like this are why we come to work. Finding something new and special, something unique and one of a kind, is one of the things that makes wine exciting to us. As we have confessed a few times, we are particular fans of the whites of northeastern Italy in general, and Kerner and Friulano in particular. Truth be told we would love to be in a world where we could send out an email on something like this and share it with a large group of folks. However, in truth, we have a lot of other more commercially viable goodies in our bag and there isn’t much of this to buy (only about 250 cases per year production) even if it did ‘light it up’ in an offer.
Suffice it to say that, as we did the research on this wine, one of the quotes from the importer was, “One of the best white wines I’ve drunk from Italy.” Hey there are a lot of folks in our industry that consistently overstate their case. But this experienced British ex-pat is not one of them. We can say without reservation that it is one of the best Italian whites we have had in quite a while.
The I Clivi Friulano Brazan 2016 is 100% Friulano from a single hillside vineyard in Collio with marl and sandstone soils, located in the far northeast of Italy near the border with Slovenia. The vineyard has vines that are 80-years-old and the yields are very low. All of the wines are grown organically, and are cleanly but very naturally made using only native yeasts and minimal intervention winemaking. This Friulano is not macerated on the skins and sees 18 months on the lees. This producer makes whites with surprising longevity. The day we tasted this one we also had one from the 2000 vintage that was quite expressive still, though our preference was for this brighter effort with a bit more cut to the finish.
The aromatics and entry are reminiscent of a premier Cru Chablis with citrus and mineral tones, with the more unctuous, dried apricot character more common with this grape working in concert on the palate. Expressive, distinctive and mouthwatering, a sensation with food (though we had no trouble enjoying it by itself), and a sleek, deceptively long finish, this Friulano got our attention the way few such whites do. It’s a little more money than typical ‘market’ Friulanos but takes the experience to another level. A must.