IL Maestro del Momento

The French have a term for it, ‘Vins du Moment’, often seen these days in wine lists up and down the country under the English translation ‘Wines of the Moment’. It’s a category that usually features wines that are either drinking particularly well at that stage in their development or that are especially well-suited to the season in hand. Every so often, you encounter a wine that truly embodies both of these qualities at the same time.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the 2019 Azienda Grillo Iole Colli Orientali del Friuli IL Sauvignon Blanc! Quite the mouthful in all senses of the term! Indeed, at our most recent Gauntleys Wine Tasting evening – evocatively entitled the ‘Spring Cellar Selection’ – the IL Sauvignon Blanc emerged as a clear and firm favourite amongst the 10 wines tasted on the night, and with good reason. This is not your average, everyday Sauvignon Blanc.

Hailing from the foothills of the eastern Italian Alps, right on the border with Slovenia, the vineyard sits at 200 metres in altitude on a mix of soft marl and hard limestone soils, unique to this part of Italy and known as the “flysch” of Cormons. Whilst the altitude and soils do imbue the wine with a freshness and minerality most typically associated with the more internationally recognised and ubiquitous styles of say a Sancerre, Pouilly Fumé or Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, it is owner and Head Winemaker, Anna Muzzonlini’s decision to harvest the fruit for the IL Sauvignon Blanc later than is traditional in such regions that really sets this wine apart both aromatically and texturally.

In allowing the grapes to reach full phenological ripeness, Anna eschews the pungently green, vegetal and herbaceous side of Sauvignon Blanc’s character, usually derived from early harvesting and further enhanced by fermentation and ageing in stainless steel, in favour of expressively ripe stone and exotic fruits, floral aromatics and a rich and rounded mouthfeel. In a style that is more reminiscent of the sadly often-overlooked member of the Sauvignon Blanc wine family tree, Bordeaux Blanc, the IL Sauvignon Blanc is fermented and aged in oak casks for 6 months, adding subtle layers of creamy, toasty and lightly spiced complexity to its generously ripe but fresh fruit-forward profile.