The Grape of the Day: vitovska! I feel as though the word vitovska must be followed by an exclamation point at all times. Not only because of the sound of the word, but how excited I am to drink it. Vitovska is a varietal found in the region of Friuli and more specifically the Carso, a stone’s thrown from Slovenia. I spent a day at Zidarich exploring the incredibly rocky soil of the vineyards and the incredibly interesting vitovska(!) in my glass.
Benjamin Zidarich, the man behind the label, is a member of the Vini Veri group. Yes, at this point, I am basically a Vini Veri groupie. They support biodynamic wine production and vinification in the most natural way possible. And in the most traditional way for the region and the grape. Benjamin does the first fermentation and maceration on the skins for 2 weeks to 1 month in Slavonian oak vats, instead of plastic vats or steel. The wine is then separated from the skins and left in tonno (double sized oak barrels) or larger botti for up to 2 years. All of these processes are done without the use of temperature control and with only wild yeasts. It helps that their brand new cellar built deep into the ground naturally remains at 11 degrees celsius. The wine is left unfiltered and then bottled, where it rests for another 6 months to a year. In Friuli, you often find winemakers vinifying their white wines like red wines and that is why I love this region so much. The grapes have a ton of character already and they are extracting as much of that as possible. My glass of Zidarich vitovska contained all of the elements of the earth and surrounding land I could see out the window of the tasting room; the saltiness of the sea and the minerality of the land.
Vitovska! It’s the new “cheers!” You heard it here first…
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Zidarich is awesome… love that wine…
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