Producer
Livio Felluga emigrated from Istria and established his property in Brazzano in the 1950s. Convinced of the winemaking potential inherent in Collio and the Colli Orientali of Friuli, he bucked the trend of the times and started buying vineyards. Their landmark Terre Alte was first produced in 1981 and they have continued to make innovative and consistently high quality wines since. Winemaker Andrea Felluga has embraced stelvin in a characteristically forward-looking way. After experimenting with the closure for five years, he felt confident in using the stelvin closure to retain freshness and perfume in his wines.
Vineyards
The Livio Felluga estate now owns 200 hectares in Rosazzo, divided into 300 vineyard parcels, and is now run by Livio’s four children (Andrea, Maurizio, Elda and Filippo). The energy injected into the estate by the younger generation has been harnessed by consultant viticulturalist/winemaker Stefano Chioccioli. As a result of their combined work, the whites have acquired more intense and focused flavours, seldom achieved in Friuli. The soils are marl and sandstone flysch of Eocene origin. The vines are Guyot-trained, with an ecologically sustainable approach to viticulture.
Vinification
The grapes are carefully destemmed and left to macerate for a short period. Next, the fruit is soft crushed. The must obtained is then allowed to settle. The now-clarified must ferments at controlled temperatures in small casks of French oak, where it matures for about ten month, followed by a further two months in bottle before release.