Jermann Pinot Grigio 2004

Silvio Jermann does not look like a revolutionary. More like a shy young college professor. Nothing about him is aggressive or flamboyant, not even his fair good looks. Yet here is the man who changed Italian wine history and created a new era in white vinification.

Heir to a traditional Friulian winery - founded by his Austrian great-grandfather Antonio in 1881 -Silvio graduated from two renowned wine academies, Conegliano and Istituto di San Michele. As early as his senior year, he determined to explore new courses in wine-making, and soon moved to Canada. Silvio's voluntary exile broadened his scope and allowed him a freedom of research which would have been unthinkable at home, where his parents, Angelo and Bruna, favored more conservative views.

Today, Silvio has not only converted his parents; he has won over the wine-making world.

His extraordinary, multi-layered, extract-loaded whites are as many landmarks of contemporary viniculture. Their inspired individual style speaks of a will of steel, and an almost mystical view of wine; of Collio's incredible terroir and Silvio's daring flair; of tiny vineyards he personally monitors, and unique blends of indigenous and international varieties.

At once revolutionary and instant classics, immaculate and complex, these wines express the essence of each varietal character to its purest and fullest degree.