THE FAMILY

The deep connection the Bastianich family has with the wine world takes us back decades and generations. In fact, it dates back to the encounters with the most important winemaking families in the 1970s and 1980s and the promotion of the best Friulian wines on the menus of the Family's various restaurants in the United States. It was this passion for wine, combined with the desire to rediscover and rediscover their origins, that led the Bastianich family, in 1997, to plant the first vineyards in Cividale del Friuli, in one of Italy's most vocated areas for the production of white wines.

The Vineyards

The vineyards, all owned since 1997, are located in two distinct areas of the Friuli Colli Orientali DOC.
The first vineyard is located in the hills of Premariacco, in the hottest and southernmost area of the DOC. Influenced by the heat from the sea, it offers grapes for the production of our fuller-bodied and more structured Cru wines, such as Vespa Bianco, Vespa Rosso, Plus and Calabrone.
In Cividale, 10 miles to the north and coooled by mountain breezes, our vineyards here produce the grapes for the fresh, aromatic wines of the Vini Orsone line.

The Soil of Friuli’s hillside vineyards, with its mix of clay and stones, is one of the world’s great terroir for white wine. Red’s also thrive in these calcium-rich terraces, which are famous for giving the white and red wines great body and structure for longevity, along with their signature minerality and salinity. Rocky soil promotes drainage during wet weather, clay retains moisture in times of drought: The perfect combination. Even the color of the soil is important. The light brown color reflecting the summer sun to keep the vine roots cool, limiting vine vigor and increasing hang-time; A key to phenolic development and complexity.