Le Due Terre
지역: 이탈리아 Friuli, Italy (COLLI ORIENTALI)
1년 총 생산량: 약 17.000
Le Due Terre is an artisanal cult winery. Despite being small and independent, during the years, since 1984, when Flavio and Silvana started making their own wines, several famous Chefs in Italy and all over the world endorsed their wines and their wine making philosophy.
Their wines are listed in the most iconic Italian restaurants as well in most Michelin starred.
If today we enjoy several great Friuli wines it is also thanks to their dream and their determination to make their style of wine resembling the Terroir of Friuli Orientali despite what at that time the market requested the trends.
I drunk and saw their wines for a long time in almost all fine restaurants with a wine section about Friuli. One day I decided to call Silvana and meet the Family Le Due Terre in person.
I arrived in Prepotto a very small village just in the border with Slovenia. From the main road there is a narrow country road that climbs on the top of a small hill. Just at the end of the road exactly on the top of the hill I found their house, surrounded by their 5 hectares of vines.
As soon as I arrived, I was warmly welcomed by Silvana, the owner and winemaker, and Cora, Silvana’s daughter who is now running the wineries both in the fields and in the cellar.
First, we had a very pleasant visit and walk in their vines. While walking I could understand what their cultivation philosophy is: no chemical and terroir driven wines; just genuine product of the soil and nature.
They divide their estate mainly in 2 plots and here the meaning of their name “Le Due Terre” that in Italian means “2 lands”. Before I thought that the name came from the fact that the winery is just in the border between Italy and Slovenia, but the real reason is more interesting and propound. The reason is due to the 2 different soil compositions.
East they cultivate white grapes (Friulano and Ribolla Gialla). The soil there is made of Marne: exposition and soil characteristics makes white indigenous grapes growing more interesting and favorable. On the West you can find red soil there they cultivate their red varieties: Refosco, Pinot Nero, Schopettino and Merlot.
The vines are strong, healthy and all is framed by this beautiful surrounding and quiet area.
We kept walking and we arrived at the cellar where Cora, meanwhile Silvana went upstairs to prepare lunch, explained to me their vinification process. Only spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeast, nothing is added to their wines to make them look prettier since they are already gorgeous the way they are. Any chemical product is banned.
Fermentations are mainly carried in steel and in concrete tanks. After fermentation is over the wines continue their evolution in old barriques. For the white old Tonneau that are big and old enough to not let any wood taste to their white. These wood recipients are just the vessels to make the wine breath and evolve. While the red wines evolve in smaller casks (Barrique) very old with the same purpose.
What I really liked about their cellar were mainly 2 things: all was analogic. If there is no electricity, they could make wine as they do now. The second were the traces of several legendary winemakers’ bottles in their private cellar showing their friendship and mutual respect with the best winemakers in Europe and their huge knowledge of what a “good wine” is.
Some more tastings of the wine still in the barrels with Cora and we went back to meet Silvana for lunch.
During lunch Flavio joined us. Usually, he is busy working in the field, but he never misses a delicious lunch prepared by his wife. Together we tried Le Due Terre wines and talked about their story since they were a young couple and just started making their own wines.
It was an inspiring story: Silvana told me how hard was to start. They had an idea of making wine that was different compared to the standard at the time the restaurants wanted. They just had a belief, a dream. To make a genuine and good product that resembles the terroir where was made without any chemical nor any technique or practice to please trends. At the time there was a boom in international grapes demand, but they kept the local variety. They were making what they believed was the right choice, the only good choice, despite it being against the trend and the flow.
She knocked on many doors trying to present their wine which was strong golden yellow not filtered, and people smashed their door on their face. They did not give up; they kept walking on their way, the sole good way. Until some connoisseur, talented and famous chef, sommelier noticed them and appreciated their wines. Now those who smashed the door on their face came back and requested their wines.
