Winemaker Notes
Blend: 100% Sauvignon Blanc
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Aromatic and intense white, expressing gooseberry, dill, coconut and green mango on the nose. It’s full-bodied and concentrated, with flavorful toasted-coconut elements to the exotic fruit.
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Vinous
The 2021 Sauvignon Colmatiss is wickedly fresh, wafting up with an invigorating mix of wildflowers and sweet spice, accentuating crushed green apples and hints of chamomile. It sweeps across the palate with ease, saline in character, with silken textures and ripe pit fruits that give way to candied lime toward the close. The 2021 tapers off with admirable length and a citrusy concentration, leaving tactile mineral tones and hints of sage. Tunella has packed a lot of character into this zesty Sauvignon.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2021 Tunella Colmatiss Sauvignon Blanc is as authentic as possible. TASTING NOTES: This wine exhibits aromas and flavors of dried herbs, rustic, earthy notes, savory spices, and minerality. Pair this with a bowl of steamed mussels. (Tasted: July 10, 2023, San Francisco, CA)
A few months after the purchase, Livio passes away, leaving Gabriella and two sons (14 year old Massimo and 12 year old Marco) to run the business. She decided to continue the family tradition with a passion and didication equal to her late husband and with the firm commitment and support of her sons. Once he finished school, the very young Massimo began to oversee both the vineyards and cellar, moving into the sales, marketing and business end of the wine industry when brother Marco joins him and shows an interest in and talent for vineyard management.
Today Massimo is Sales Manager for La Tunella, traveling the globe to bring the family's high quality wines to various markets all over Italy and abroad, including Great Britain, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, Greece, Canada and the United States. Marco is the winery's Vineyard Manager, responsible for 70 hectares of vineyards (more than triple the amount his father started with).
Capable of a vast array of styles, Sauvignon Blanc is a crisp, refreshing variety that equally reflects both terroir and varietal character. Though it can vary depending on where it is grown, a couple of commonalities always exist—namely, zesty acidity and intense aromatics. This variety is of French provenance. Somm Secret—Along with Cabernet Franc, Sauvignon Blanc is a proud parent of Cabernet Sauvignon. That green bell pepper aroma that all three varieties share is no coincidence—it comes from a high concentration of pyrazines (herbaceous aromatic compounds) inherent to each member of the family.
Viticulture has thrived in Colli Orientali del Friuli since the reign of ancient Rome and today its verdant, rolling hills support a long list of autochthonous varieties, each playing a unique and important role in the modern Colli Orientali wine scene.
The region is primarily recognized for its white wines. Its indigenous varieties of Ribolla Gialla, Verduzzo, Picolit and perhaps most importantly, Friulano are made into single varietal wines or blended, and often blended with the international varieties of Sauvignon blanc, Pinot grigio and Pinot bianco. The latter have been flourishing in the area since the 1800s. But it wasn’t until the 1970s when producers started using cold fermentation techniques to produce fresh, fruity, crisp and aromatic whites that this area began to attract international attention.
While reds only make up about a third of the area under vine, Colli Orientali is home to some of Italy’s most exciting and rare red wines. Refosco, Schioppettino, Tazzelenghe and Pignolo are among the autochthonous varieties while Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir also have a stronghold.
Colli Orientali holds much in common with its neighbor, Collio; the only thing dividing them is a political line. Both are influenced by the cooling effects of the Julian Alps and moderated by the Adriatic Sea. A unique soil of alternating marine layers called flysch also dominates Colli Orientali, providing a mineral-rich environment for vine roots and optimal water drainage.