Winemaker Notes
Bright straw yellow color. The nose is elegant and complex with mineral notes and ripe aromas of citrus and exotic fruits, together with fresh hints of sage and lemon verbena. The palate is full, fresh and persistent with a pleasant finish of mint, lime and minerals.
Ideal with smoked or steamed fish starters, fish soup, grilled fish and risotto with seafood. Excellent also with asparagus-based dishes.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Intense aromas of wet stone, chervil, grapefruit and yellow pepper. A layered mid-palate leads to a beautiful herbal streak on the finish, along with vibrant acidity, excellent persistence and superb complexity and harmony. Outstanding varietal character, with notable Isonzo terroir – a truly great white wine from this Sauvignon Blanc specialist.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Vie di Romans 2023 Friuli Isonzo Sauvignon Blanc Piere is one of the most compelling expressions of the grape in northeast Italy, distinguished by its remarkable complexity and precision despite a relatively large production of 67,000 bottles. The wine reveals finely detailed notes of exotic fruit, crushed stone and a savory nuance reminiscent of caper flower, all delivered with clarity and focus. It shows a medium texture that is expertly balanced by freshness and tension, giving the wine both energy and depth, while fruit from 11.5 hectares of clay-rich soils with mixed silica and conglomerate contributes to its mineral edge. Aged for eight months on the lees in stainless steel followed by 10 months in bottle, it achieves impressive harmony and definition.
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James Suckling
A leafy and aromatic wine with aromas of sage, flint and citrus fruit. Light-bodied, it shows a silky texture, an exotic core, crisp acidity and a polished finish.
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Vinous
The 2023 Sauvignon Blanc Piere is a spice bomb with a savory, beguiling bouquet that blends sweet green peas with basil, rosemary and lime-laced green apples. It mixes a pleasant inner sweetness with citrus-infused orchard fruits and crisp mineral tones to create a reverberation of zesty tension. Long and staining yet wickedly fresh, it leaves a subtle twang of young kiwi. This 2023 Sauvignon Blanc Piere is incredibly unique and impossible to ignore.
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Wine Spectator
Crushed pine and flint accent ripe and juicy flavors of pineapple and pink grapefruit in this expressive white. Lush and lightly honeyed on the palate, with generosity balanced nicely by chiseled acidity. Mineral-driven finish. Drink now through 2033.
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.
The source of some of Italy’s best and most distinctive white wines, Friuli-Venezia Giulia is where Italian, Germanic and Slavic cultures converge. The styles of wines produced in this region of Italy's far north-east reflect this merging of cultures. Often shortened to just “Friuli,” the area is divided into many distinct subzones, including Friuli Grave, Colli Orientali del Friuli, Collio Goriziano and Carso. The flat valley of Friuli Grave is responsible for a large proportion of the region’s wine production, particularly the approachable Pinot grigio and the popular Prosecco. The best vineyard locations are often on hillsides, as in Colli Orientali del Friuli or Collio. In general, Friuli boasts an ideal climate for viticulture, with warm sunny days and chilly nights, which allow grapes to ripen slowly and evenly.
In Colli Orientali, the specialty is crisp, flavorful white wine made from indigenous varieities like Friulano (formerly known as Tocai Friulano), Ribolla gialla and Malvasia Istriana.
Red wines, though far less common here, can be quite good, especially when made from the deeply colored, rustic Refosco variety. In Collio Goriziano, which abutts Slovenia, many of the same varieties are planted. International varieties like Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cabernet Franc are also common, but they tend to be Loire-like in style with herbaceous character and mellow tannins. Carso’s star grape is the red Teranno, notable for being rich in iron content and historically consumed for health purposes. It has an earthy, meaty profile and is often confused with the distinct variety Refosco.