visiting Colmello di Grotta winery in Friuli Venezia Giulia

Today we are visiting the Colmello di Grotta winery in Farra d’Isonzo, in the province of Gorizia; we are in Friuli Venezia Giulia, not far from the border with Slovenia. The winery covers an area of about 21 hectares, 15 of which are vineyards, the rest is woods.

The winery was founded in 1965 by Luciana Bennati who, in love with wine and her land, decides to give voice to her passion, quickly bringing Colmello di Grotta known in the international markets. Today the company is managed by Luciana’s daughter, Francesca Bortolotto and her granddaughter Olimpia Possati, with the help of Roberto and Carlo, who carry out the founder’s mission with great passion.

Colmello di Grotta has a particularity that makes the winery almost unique, if you go to visit, you can see that a very simple dirt road magically divides the vineyards, into two almost equal parts, on one side there are the ones that belong to the DOP Collio denomination and on the other those of the DOP Isonzo. Although very close to each other, the soils are very different and consequently the wines also have very different characteristics.

The soils of DOP Isonzo are of calcareous mainly gravelly origin which give life to wines that are elegant and fragrant; the soils of the Collio DOP instead are of fossil origin, marl and sandstone curls that give the wine more structure and more complex aromas. The skill of the Colmello di Grotta winery lies in being able to produce wines that complement each other and fully represent the territory they are produced in.

Colmello di Grotta has decided to use amphorae for all their white wines, in order to fully maintain the characteristics of the grapes without adding “extra” notes that can derive from aging in wood. However, the wood is used only minimally to refine the red wines. Once inside the “anforaia”, close your eyes and fill your nose and lungs with the scent of wine!

Finally you must know the winery is very attentive to the environment and to the eco system and in 2017 has began the conversion of its production to the organic method; from the 2020 harvest, the winery will produce the first officially certified organic wine.

We advise you to taste all the Colmello di Grotta wines but if you have to choose one, you must try the Sanfilip a bland of Chardonnay Musquè, Sauvignon and Friulano that will not disappoint you; a fresh and fruity wine when young that becomes more complex and spicy over the years.