Bellanotte is an 8 hectare estate in the variegated terroirs of the Isonzo valley and Collio hills. The soil is mainly calcareous with red gravels and a layer of errous stone. The harvest is manual with careful bunch selection. A pre-fermentation cold maceration with the skins helps to extract the aromatic components of the grapes and an extended period of lees contact lends the wine its eventual softness and equilibrium. This is a true 'Ramato' Pinot Grigio whose slightly off pink coppery colour is bleached from the slightly pink rusty coloured skins of the ripe berries. This is a great little estate who produce wines of real character and tradition and after tasting this style of Pinot Grigio, it makes one wander why we bother with the neautral flat wines that are made in such vast quantities across northern Italy and sold in our standardised super markets and multiples. Paolo Benassi, an Italian Poet talks with great lyricism about the wines of Bellanotte:
"A great wine does not exist without a vein of poetry; without poetry wines become flat and meaningless".
By which we infer that great wines have an inexplicable internal beauty that defines them and that to appreciate them you need a certain amount of Poetry in your soul!
Tasting Note: I last tasted this wine in a restaurant near our base called la Locanda with some anti-pasti and I'd forgotten how much I enjoy this gutsy, pithy style of off white wine. The skin contact is evident in the wine with an element of tannic grip to the palate which is perfectly off set by firm acidity and lovely delicate fruit. The nose is of straw, elderflower, red apple and dried raspberry and on the palate this combines with toasted almonds and a hint of citrus fruit. A lovely wine on its own or with a whole host of dishes from light pastas to grilled fish and chicken or even something a bit heartier!
Type: Full bodied Ramato, 'off pink'!
Varietal: 100% Pinot Grigio
Alcohol: 13.5%abv
Vinification: Wine making: grapes are picked up manually and put into boxes and de-stemmered through a crusher/de-stemmer. The mixture of juice and skins go into stainless steel tanks of 20hl capacity: with MPF system, using carbon dioxide snow (- 80Centigrade) the mixture reaches the temperature of 0centigrade for a couple of days. After 48 hours the mixture of juice and skins go into a horizontal press and through a soft pressing the juice is separated from the skins
When the temperature increases, it begins a temperature controlled fermentation at 18 degrees centigrade.
Vineyard Location: Farra d'Isonzo, Gorizia
