Forchir Winery
Winemaking in Friuli
History
Forchir history began as a farm in Palmanova, the famous star-shaped city known as one of the symbols of Friuli. Over the years, the company specialized in viticulture and wine production, becoming one of the first in Friuli to sell bottled wine.
Until the 1980s, Forchir remained a family-run business. It changed when Gianfranco Bianchini, a young winemaker, started collaborating with the company. In 1984, Gianfranco, widely known as Franco, was invited to take over the winery. He gladly accepted the responsibility of continuing the company’s tradition while maintaining its name and core values, marking the beginning of a new chapter for the Forchir winery.
Interestingly, the initial letter ‘F’ in Forchir corresponds to Franco, Friuli, and Famiglia, signifying continuity with Friuli’s history and the legacy of its founders. Under Franco’s guidance and with the support of his daughter Giulia and the entire family, the winery broadened its horizons by adopting the concept of zero-impact winemaking.
Philosophy
The company places great emphasis on vineyard management and has received SQNPI certification for integrated production, which minimizes pesticide use and eliminates herbicides in favour of simple mechanical practices such as soil cultivation. The 260 hectares of vineyards use a “drip wing” system consisting of micro-perforated tubes buried just below the surface to allow efficient, respectful water usage.
In 2014, the company moved to its original headquarters in Camino al Talagliamento with a new, completely “carbon-free” cellar producing all the energy needed through a 180 kW photovoltaic system.
Wine and Winemaking
The harvest is conducted at night, ensuring that the grapes arrive at the cellar during the coolest part of the day; this allows for cold processing crucial for preserving the grapes’ aromatic profile.
About the winemaking of white wines, the winery utilizes soft pressing, controlled temperature fermentation, cryomaceration on the skins, and careful ageing in steel. Sparkling wines undergo slow refermentation in an autoclave using the Long Charmat method.
Red wine grapes are subject to maceration without mechanical pumping, preventing the extraction of green tannins; this process occurs in large steel fermenters equipped with the Ganimede Method, which uses natural fermentation gases to achieve a delicate and effective extraction of only the noble substances. Maturation takes place in steel wine tanks before continuing in the bottle.
Additionally, Forchir does not use animal-derived substances for wine clarification, and the work in the cellar is continuous and meticulous. The company regularly analyzes the wines to monitor grape maturation, fermentation progress, and ageing, ensuring a high-quality final product.
