Carso, Friuli, Italy
100% Terran
Terran is a local red grape that has been in the Carso since Roman times. Its delicious, vibrant and quite energetic. Terran rarely produces wines over 12% abv. Somewhat an alternative to Barbera. This wine is crunchy, with a combination of earth notes, flavours of bright red fruits, dried herbs and liquorice. Aged entirely in large Slavonian botti.
Benjamin followed his father's footsteps and began with one hectare in 1988. He now has eight hectares that he he farms without any use of chemicals. The vines are grown on the classic iron and calcium rich red soils of the area, extending deep into limestone.
Benjamin primarily works with Vitovska, the classic local grape of the Carso region, but ehe also has some Malvasia and Sauvignon and a small amount of Teran (a local red grape) and Merlot. All the harvest and vineyard work is done by hand and the yields are kept low.
In the cellar, Benjamin uses an old basket press and like others in the region that have re-embraced ancient, more natural methods - he keeps his white wines in contact with their skins for the first few weeks during fermentation (all ferments occur naturally with the native yeasts). His style of orange wines are quite different from producers like Gravner (the graver wines are rich, intense and bold), the skin contact influence is subtle and the colour of the wines remain quite bright and vibrant, with a hint of cloudiness. Benjamins wine are fresh, energetic and there is a seamless balance of acid, minerality and tannin. All of his wines are bottled without fining, filtration and with a minimum amount of added sulphur.