100% Schioppettino

Food pairing: Pairs well with elegant dishes that recall the spiciness and finesse of the wine. It also marries well with traditional dishes such as roasted white and red meat, poultry and feathered game, mushroom-based dishes, and cheeses. Try it with duck, rabbit, pork sausage, stuffed peppers, or cheese and charcuterie

"Balanced ruby red with bright reflections. Exceptional elegance and personality on the nose. The clearest aromas are those of white pepper and small red fruits, currants and blackberries, intriguing balsamic and undergrowth (sous-bois) notes. Flavorful, with fruity sensations and well-balanced minerality; the supporting tannins are velvety and ripe. Although it is a wine of good structure, it has a refined and almost silky balance; it is complex, aristocratic, of great elegance and long life; racy and full of character." -Winemaker Notes

Ronchi di Cialla Schioppettino di Cialla 2017 is aged for four years, with 14-18 months’ maturation in barrels and 30-36 months of ageing in bottles

The Rapuzzo family (pictured above) of Ronchi di Cialla in Friuli's Colli Orientali region saved this wondrous grape from its permanent disappearance and aren't we thankful they did. Made from 100% Schioppettino grapes, this wine is aged for four years, with 14-18 months’ maturation in barrels and 30-36 months of ageing in bottles. Try with peppered and grilled red meat and a ripening hard cheese.

History of Schioppettino

Schioppettino has been in viticultural use since at least the 13th Century. It remained popular in Friuli right up until the mid-1800s, when it was struck hard, first by the arrival of oidium (powdery mildew) from the Americas in the 1850s, and then by the phylloxera epidemic of the 1860s.

Whatever hopes the variety had of being revived at this time were soon dashed by the two World Wars, during which those responsible for tending the vines were called on to abandon their vineyards and fight. If anything, the postwar social and economic impacts were even more devastating on local (and national) viticulture.

By the 1960s there were less than 100 Schioppettino vines left in existence, scattered across eastern Friuli. Salvation came in the early 1970s, when Paolo Rapuzzi founded the Ronchi di Cialla winery, and began seeking out native Friulian grape varieties for his vineyard. By this time, the variety was so long-forgotten that it was neither recognized nor permitted for use by Italian wine law.

Schiopettino today is regaining the respect and recognition it once enjoyed.