chardonnay

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Chardonnay DOC

Denomination: Colli Orientali del Friuli › Linea tradizionale

The Italian Chardonnay varietal is sourced from vineyards of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, located in the north-eastern part of Italy. This includes the large wine regions of Collio Goriziano, Colli Orientali del Friuli, Isonzo and Carso. Though these regions produce only a small percentage of Italy’s overall production, they are comparable in quality to grapes grown in Piedmont and Tuscany, the two most celebrated wine producing regions of Italy . The main difference between the

regions is that Friuli-Venezia Giulia wines are mostly white, though some exceptional red wine can be found as well.

In Friuli the Chardonnay grape has an ideal climate which produces a wine of elegance, structure and balance. The grapes are relatively small, think-skinned, fragile and can oxidize easily which makes the varietal more sensitive to winemaking techniques. Different techniques will produce wide variances in Chardonnay’s flavour profile including: proportion of new to old cooperage, lees stirring, and partial, complete, or prevention of malolactic fermentation.

Two popular trends that keep California Chardonnay’s from reaching the elite level of those from Italy: the first is to satisfy consumer demand for wines called “Chardonnay” bland and inexpensive wines; the other is to overwhelm all varietal personality and subtleties with lavish amounts of oak aging.

characteristics ....

Chardonnay has a long history in Italy
but for a large part of it, the grape
was commonly confused with Pinot
Blanc—often with both varieties inter
planted in the same vineyard and
blended together. This happened
despite the fact that Chardonnay grapes
get more golden yellow in color close to
harvest time and can be
visually distinguished from Pinot Blanc.

Chardonnay is dramatically affected by
soil characteristics, climate, and
vineyard practices: Italian Chardonnay
is quite lean, crisp and is traditionally
made un-oaked with light fruit.

On the nose, it can acquire
particular perfumes of apple, lemons,
or tropical fruits and the variety’s full
body is capable of supporting a
host of complimentary characteristics
such as oak, butter, and vanilla.

Available as frozen juice in 30L & 220L drums
Vineyard & varietal information

● Sourced from vines that are 25 years old

● The soil is clayey and no irrigation is allowed. All vines are located on a plain

● The law for growing Pinot Grigio calls for a single branch coming from any single
trunk with a maximum of 3 to 4 clusters per branch

● Vines are planted 9 feet apart with only 3500 plants per hectare with 6 to 8 clusters
per plant

● Yield is 7 tons per hectare [3 tons per acre]

● Grapes are pressed using low pressure pneumatic bladder presses and pumped
into stainless steel tanks, chilled at - 40℃, for two days. Once gross sediment has

   fallen, juice is pumped into various sized polyethylene drums and frozen to -4
   degrees Fahrenheit (-20 Celsius)

● Chardonnay is a white skinned grape. Wines made with this grape demonstrate a
   gold and yellow colour, with alcohol generally between 13.5 to 14.5% by vol.

● Traditionally fermented dry. Aged in barriques and large oak barrels, however modern
producers have been switching to stainless-steel aging

● Wine can age 1 to 5 years

Photo:
View of Chardonnay vineyards under clouds

● Important note: We do not add SO2 to the juice prior to freezing; the result is a juice that once thawed oxidizes and may turn a
   brown colour. This is a natural process: do not add SO2 to the juice when you receive it. As fermentation requires oxygen,
   adding yeast will consume the oxygen in the juice and any oxidized phenolics will drop before the end of fermentation, revealing
   a clear straw coloured wine. An addition of SO2 before this is accomplished risks maintaining these brown oxidized components
   in the wine. We recommend adding SO2 at the end of yeast/malolactic fermentation, and not before the end of sugar/yeast
   fermentation.

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