Franco Terpin
FRIULI
Friuli, in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region at the north-eastern end of Italy on the border with Slovenia, has built its reputation on white wines made from its traditional grape varieties, in particular macerated whites which are considered example of this type of vinification. The Collio vineyard, around Gorizia, is the land of pioneers like Gravner, Radikon, Prinčič, Terpin or Paraschos, both ardent defenders of tradition and the identity of the terroir and daring innovators.
The lands of the Terpin family, long dedicated to polyculture and livestock, were devoted to viticulture in the 90s. Located around Valerisce, hamlet of San Floriano del Collio in northern Friuli in the Collio region in bordering Slovenia, the vineyard is made up of various plots distributed on either side of the border, 8 ha on the Friulian side – notably on the slopes of Monte Calvario near the Isonzo – and 6 ha on the Slovenian side. Vines that Franco Terpin has moved from traditional work, reluctant to chemical treatments, to organic and biodynamic cultivation with a main concern, the life of the soil and the free expression of the vine. This philosophy, very attached to the terroir, translates into natural vinification of white wines in maceration with the skins (from a few days to a few weeks depending on the cuvées) to transmit all the aromatic richness and complexity of the grapes from the “ponka” soil (marl clay and sandstone) rich in mineral matter. Ribolla gialla, friulano and pinot grigio as well as sauvignon and chardonnay give “orangey” whites that are both fresh and fleshy, suave and rustic, and, like the personality of the winemaker, without artifice.
