Author: Ger

Arconi Bianco, a reistant and sublime Sauvignon Kretos

Written by Ger on 19 February 2024. Posted in News, Winery.

Winter is the time of the year when we share our wines in events and contests, and gather food for thought.

In 2023 our Arconi Bianco has been awarded as one of the most representative Italian PIWI wines, showing that Sauvignon finds his home in Friuli.

The Kretos varietal is not exactly a typical grape of Friuli, matching its progenitor for as much as 10%, and has been developed thanks a research program at the University of Udine. Sauvignon Kretos, together with Sauvignon Rythos and Nepis represents Sauvignon resistant grape varieties.

Our Arconi is harvested at the Villacriccola vineyard in Pasiano (Pordenone). The training system is the traditional “Cappuccina” of Friuli, with a double arched guyot. This was one of our very first vineyards with resistant grape varieties back in 2018 when we first received official permission to start growing these grapes. Our main goal at the time was to mix the typical local wine production with these new sustainable varieties, showing that it is possible to make good and healthy wines following traditional agriculture with te addition of new grape vine shoots. Arconi Bianco is a wine of great structure thanks a six-month ageing in the lees, it is characterized by tropical fruit and grapefruit flavour with an almond aftertaste.

Arconi Bianco pairs perfectly with fish and white meat recipes, but is also pleasant as an aperitif. (cit. La Cantina di Fausto).

PIWI Wine-Tasting Event in Varese

Written by Ger on 16 October 2023. Posted in News.

AIS Lombardia and Sara Missaglia hosted a very interesting wine event in Varese, where Terre di Ger and Marcel Zanolari presented and discussed their wines side to side.

Marcel Zanolari’s wines are true works of art. He mixes biodynamic, ancient jars, and innovation in the vineyard, selecting rare varieties from Switzerland with the help of breeding-guru Valentin Blatter. On the other side of the table were Terre di Ger wines, coming from a territory devoted to wine-making and considered the cradle of wine-making innovation in Italy.

On one side Marcel’s expertise and his on going improvement of winemaking techniques, on the other side our very own Terre di Ger, trying to evolve the local tradition we all started from.

Sara did a great job: as a journalist and wine enthusiast she presented PIWI wines to the audience, described resistant grape varieties and their evolution after multiple breeding, and finally presented the wines of both wineries, describing their origin and all their scents and characteristics.

Robert Spinazzè has once again stated our strong belief in innovation as a necessary process in a Region where tradition has been so important till now. Terre di Ger tries to make consumers’ taste evolve, keeping an eye on the ethics of our work and on sustainability. We need to get rid of dogmas and make wines that represent our winery, so that we can be remembered for the wine we produce. This is Robert Spinazzè’s goal.

Luca Gonzato, who has been studying wines made from resistant grape varieties in Italy for many years, was a special guest and discussed with us many innovations in this field. We discussed past and present research on these wines, also considering what the future will bring.

Umberto Rosanelli, ONAV instructor, has highlighted the qualitative gap between wines obtained from white grape varieties and those obtained from red grape varieties: the former ones are the result of a longer experimental phase in the nursery, followed by an earlier production in the Alps, where the terroir is not ideal for growing red grape varieties. In general, Umberto added, the quality of wines obtained from resistant grape varieties has been improving a lot, and the range of different products has also expanded.

Marketing is also important and the knowledge about this wines needs to be spread among the general public. That’s exactly what these events are helping to achieve, also thanks to the work of experts such as Sara Missaglia, Luca Gonzato and Umberto Rosanelli.

Summer School on sustainability and genetic improvement

Written by Ger on 26 September 2023. Posted in Events.

The Summer School held by Sergio Ferrari on September, 21 was dedicated to sustainable and genetic improvement.

Dr Velasco of CREA Conegliano took part in the event, Yuri Zambon, representing Vivai Cooperativi Rauscedo, Vincenzo Betalli of CIVIT Trento, and the agronomist/journalist Lorenzo Tosi all participated in the event. Two vine-growers who make wine from resistant grape varieties were also part of the event: Mario Pojer of Pojer and Sandri and our very own Robert Spinazzè of Terre di Ger.

Professor Attilio Scienza, a leading international expert in viticulture, also supported this event, which was conducted by Costanza Fregoni, a true protagonist of wine-making innovation in Italy.

How will the future of our vineyards look? Velasco puts it quite clearly: it is going to be very difficult to grow grapewines in the future. Climate change, and the increasing limits on pesticide are going to increase costs for vine growers. There is a way out, that is genetic improvement. According to Professor Attilio Scienza, a strong supporter of breeding, talking about local traditions and territories is very difficult today: viticulture is evolving and laws and regulations must accept new vines as part of the local denominations.

Zambon and Betalli described their research work in nurseries, experimenting new grape varieties in order to guarantee the future of Italian wine making.

Mario Pojer, has been growing resistant grape varieties since 1975 and has made his wine, Zero Infinito, a true symbol of his winery, known all around the world.

Robert Spinazze is considered the pioneer of PIWI wines in the region of Friuli. He has been putting his effort in promoting these wines that nowadays still lack a recognized denomination and can be sold only as common table wines.

Our praise also goes to Nereo Pederzoli, a journalist whose divulgative work is crucial in Trentino.

Giro 2023: good performances, surprises and new travel companions

Written by Ger on 12 June 2023. Posted in News.

May is the month dedicated to Giro d’Italia, and our companies have been supporting Team Bora-hansgrohe for years now. Last year, Jai Hindley won the Giro, and we celebrated his victory both in our winery and in Germany. Repeating the same success this year was very hard to expect, but despite the two most representative riders had to withdraw during the first week due to illness, our team gained success in two stages with the same rider, Nico Denz. Lennard Kamna also classified in the top 10 overall on the final stage.

Two stages have been the most intense for us, when the Giro arrived in Caorle and started from Oderzo the day after. This is our land, and the cheering supporters came to visit our winery and meet us on the vineyards along the road.

Special edition bottles are available on our Shop.

We have met many fans, both experts and passionate cycling supporters who came to visit us to exchange their views and have a glass of wine.

Journalists also stopped by to have a sandwich and drink a glass of Prosecco. We were particularly happy to meet with Eurosport journalist Iliana Lazzaro.

A former cyclist herself, she is so passionate about this sport, and now works as a reporter and commentator of cyclocross and women cycling races.

She’s always happy to come to our land and took the occasion of the race start in Oderzo to come to visit us, and tell us many funny anecdotes about the Giro. Our winery was all dressed in pink, we presented our BORA COOKING SYSTEM bottle collections and the pink jersey from last year.

Vinitaly, PIWI Italy and the Future of Vineyards

Written by Ger on 15 May 2023. Posted in Events, News.

A few thoughts after wrapping up Vinitaly wine fair.

The most important news is the foundation of PIWI Italia, the Italian branch of PIWI international, which brings together all the local associations that have been established in recent years. It is a fundamental step, which gives national recognition to resistant grape varieties and to the wines obtained from them.

In the occasion of a conference on the future of vineyards, held by Professor A. Scienza, the presidents of regional PIWI branches established the new association, and Prof. Marco Stefanini of FEM Trento (one of the top researchers on breeding and expert of resistant grape varieties) has been appointed as president.

Vinitaly has been a great occasion for all wine lovers to taste the new PIWI wines presented at the stands.

As one of the most representative wineries in this segment we presented six PIWI wines that obtained bothe praise and awards during last winter.

Stefania Belcecchi, communication expert and journalist at Civiltà del Bere, came to visit us, together with Sara Missaglia, a journalist from Lombardy and professional sommelier. Both of them are enthusiastic supporters of sustainable wines and natural breeding.

We have also presented Antonella Danzo’s new book (PIWI The Super-Sustainable Wines), which at the moment is the first book in Italian entirely dedicated to PIWI grapewine varieties and wines.

Lara Loreti, of the Il Gusto and La Stampa magazines, presented our El Masut as a PIWI Bordeaux Cut derived from Merlot Khorus, Khantus, and Cabernet Eidos grapes.

Lara Loreti racconta El Masut Terre di Ger (video).

It is now a common opinion that there is no downsides in resistant varieties: good wines can be obtained from them, and every winery can make them as original as possible; the use of pesticides in the vineyard is highly diminished and all this has been broadly documented. Both chemical and organoleptic analysis of these wines show that they can be easily compared to the other traditional wines already on the market. The whole vine cultivation process is highly sustainable for the environment; since fewer mechanical interventions are made in the field, the CO2 impact is lowered, and the same can be said for the spraying of chemicals.

This was the first Vinitaly after the pandemic: the results in terms of the number of participants and their interest in our wines are surely encouraging.

Meetings and Discussion on Wine Ethics and Sustainability

Written by Ger on 20 March 2023. Posted in Events.

March is the month of events and wine fairs. Meetings come one after the other and every discussion is interesting enough to be followed with attention.

It is now clear that climate change and sustainability has become two aspects that need to be taken very seriously.

There aren’t many solutions available to this problem, but resistant grape varieties help us in finding the right compromise.

We prefer mantaining our winery on the path of natural breedings instead of trying TEA or OGM research, fantasizing about being able to build stronger resistance out of traditional grapevine varieties.

As wine makers, we want to emerge thanks to the wines we are able to present to the public. We are not interested in keeping bonds at all costs with a market that is afraid of change. Presenting innovations is something that teases the consumer’s curiosity and will bring great satisfaction in the long run.

Tipicità Marche Festival, 11-13 Marzo, Fermo

These and other issues have been discussed at the “Tipicità Marche Festival”. We have been invited to discuss whether PIWI wines are an established reality or just perfect strangers.

In the discussion panel, the technical presentation by agronomist Dr Giuseppe Camilli (AMAP Marche) has been extremely interesting. Dr Camilli grows and manages an experimental wineyard, with many resistant grapevine varieties, and has obtained authorization from Marche Region’s Agriculture Bureau for 20 more varieties that have already adapted very well to the local territory.

Dr Camilli has highlighted that these new varieties will be able to give a huge contribution to local wineries. Mr Robert Spinazze also answered to questions about these future wines, bringing our winery’s experience as an example.

6 PIWI wines by Terre di Ger were available for tasting at the event, we offered technical descriptions but also discussed marketing and communication strategies that are useful in order to bring our wines to new consumers.

The whole event has been supervised by AIS Marche and Stefano Isidori.

Dr Camilli’s research is available at this link.

Wine in Venice Celebrates Excellent Wine-making

Written by Ger on 20 February 2023. Posted in Events, News.

2023 has just started with an extremely important wine event. The Wine in Venice exhibition celebrated the best 20 wineries from 20 Italian Regions, picked according to their sustainability and innovation practices.

Terre di Ger was the sole winery from Friuli Venezia Giulia selected for the event. Wine-tasting, masterclasses and talks were held in the Palazzo della Scuola Grande di Santa Maria di Misericordia, between the 28th and 30th of January, three days dedicated to developing wine culture and knowledge.

Innovation, Ethics, Sustainability, these are three cornerstones that help us coping with the present. They are necessary to bring about change and put mankind and the environment at the centre of our action. Wine and earth, wine and territory, wine and mankind, these are all core values that help our wine-making in a healthy and honest way.

Terre di Ger was present at the event, presenting its wines obtained from resistant grape varieties that require far less spraying in the field. A recent study conducted in Friuli has shown that fewer phytosanitary treatments – beside the clear benefits both for echosystems and consumers – also correspond to 38% less CO2 emissions in the atmosphere.

We have started this new endeavour with the aim of standing out from the highly industrialized viticulture of our region and heading towards a long-term wine-making alternative that is harder to achieve, but far more gratifying. The Wine in Venice exhibition has been the celebration of all these brave wineries that, just like us, have emerged around Italy.

One masterclass, in particular, has been really interesting, the title was “Wineyard Italia, the Best Examples in the North”. Our Caliere Rosso 2020 has been the only PIWI wine cited in the masterclass and it has been described as “a ripened cherry juice…”. PIWI wines have now emerged as top quality wines, dispelling all doubts and critiques coming from those who are still afraid of these promising alternatives to traditional wines.

A round of applause goes to all the organizers and professionals that took part in the event.

PIWI Wines Event in Venice

Written by Ger on 14 December 2022. Posted in Events.

Venice Events, Maria Botter and Angela Merati held the first national event dedicated to PIWI wines in Venice last weekend. 30 wineries growing resistant grape varieties participated in the event, representing the many wine makers that have been investing on this safe wine-making, beyond organic farming.

The event took place in the prestigious Carlton Hotel on the Grand Canal in Venice.

Our winery was present, representing Friuli Venezia Giulia, with three wines: Feltro Bianco 2021 (Mach Foundation Best Wine Award 2022), Caliere Rosso 2020 (Mach Foundation Best Wine Award 2022), and Limine 2020 our exclusive white wine.

Many wine enthusiasts, journalists and wine experts joined the event. A big hug goes to Luca Gonzato as well, probably the best ambassador for this kind of wines with his blog full of precious information and educational material. Two masterclass was held during the event, both presented by FISAR sommeliers, and our Caliere Rosso has been selected as the only red wine.

A discussion panel also took place, at the presence of PIWI International President Alexander Morandel and Regional PIWI Italia presidents. The promotion of PIWI Italia to represent the movement at the national level has been discussed, along with cooperation with other European Nations, towards shared goals such as a sustainable wine-making and the recognition of these grape varieties.

The success of the event will push future events next year both in Cortina d’Ampezzo and in Milan.

So we will see you there soon!

Rufini: The New Organic Sparkling Wine

Written by Ger on 27 October 2022. Posted in Winery.

Rufini used to be the mark pressed on bricks produced in the old brick-kilns located between Oderzo and Pravisdomini, in the area where our vineyards are located.

After obtaining organic certification we have created an organic wine produced from resistant grape varieties that require extremely low chemicals for protection. Only a few treatments per year allow us to grow a healthy wineyard and therefore produce a healthier wine.

So here is Rufini, a fresh sparkling white wine which suits a wide public made of friendly and curious consumers that are willing to drink healthier and sustainable wines. This is a modern and innovative wine, obtained from grapes of Sauvigner Gris and Bronner, the two resistant white grape varieties grown in Veneto.

In this wine, crispy and fresh grapes of good acidity are paired with warmer and full bodied Bronner grapes. For this new experience we have chosen a long charmat method.

Request the technical sheet and find more info, contact us!

Terre di Ger at La Vuelta

Written by Ger on 4 August 2021. Posted in Events.

Running from Saturday 14 August 2021 to Sunday 5 September 2021, La Vuelta 2021 will be made up of 21 stages and will cover a total distance of 3.417,7 km.

8 flat stages (2 with high-altitude finales)
4 hilly stages
7 mountain stages
2 individual time-trial stages
2 rest days

This is the detailed program for the riders among the sunny landscapes and the wild north.

Starting from Burgos, moving to the South, the stunning coast between Alicante and Rincon de la Vitoria. Then slowly the stages go to the centre of Spain to Cordoba.

The show starts on the north with the legendary Lagos de Covadonga as the topic of the third week.

The final stage takes place at Santiago de Compostela, this year the end is far from Madrid.

We have our BORA-hansgrohe team selection: Benedetti Cesare, Gamper Patrick, Großschartner Felix, Laas Martin, Meeus Jordi, Palzer Toni, Schachmann Max, Zwiehoff Bem. For the GC Felix could confirm the positive results of last year, while for the sprints Jordi will play his cards. Max is free to win stages.

We say welcome to Toni Palzer, just his first three weeks race, maybe he will climb as he’s been doing in winter on the mountains.

Good luck and fingers crossed to all of them.

We support with massive enthusiasm and in cooperation with BORA Cooking System we introduce the Vuelta Labels special edition.

Author: Ger

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