Terpin Sialis Bianco 2008
Franco Terpin’s winery straddles two worlds. Well, two countries in any case. Located in San Floriano del Collio, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy, the winery sits steps from the Slovenian border. In fact, Terpin is one of those Italian winemakers to also have vineyards across that border.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, eastern Friuli, i.e. Venezia Giulia, got folded into the Austrian Hapsburg Empire where it joined portions of Slovenia. Then for a brief period, the Austrians controlled the entirety of Friuli Venezia Giulia when the Venezia Republic ceded control. In 1866 the western and central areas went back under Italian control, this time to the Kingdom of Italy. Meanwhile, the Hapsburgs continued to control the eastern portion. Until that is, the end of World War I when Friuli Venezia Giulia was once again made whole under the Kingdom of Italy. What does that mean for wine? All this back and forth meant that vineyards established in the east under Austrian control included land in both what is now Italy and Slovenia. Making the vineyards there one of, if not the only, examples where vineyards and appellations cross international boundaries.
It is in this collision of worlds where Franco Terpin grew up and established his winery.
Terpin grew up with vines and in 1994 he and his wife established their own winery. His 10 hectares, farmed organically, comprise rich clay soils where he cultivates Ribolla Gialla, Friulano, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon. His wines, classified under the delle Venezia IGT, fall into that controversial ‘natural’ wine category. He no more uses chemicals in the winery than he does in the vineyard. Wines ferment spontaneously with ambient yeast and he does not filter before bottling. While he makes red wines, the bulk of his small production – only about 20,000 bottles annually – is amber wines. All of his wines, red and white (or amber as the case is), macerate from three to eight days. After fermentation, they spend three years ageing in a combination of oak, steel, and bottle before release.
Terpin Sialis Bianco, 2008
The Terpin Sialis Bianco combines 45% Sauvignon Blanc, 45% Chardonnay, and 10% Pinot Grigio. The wine aged one year each in barrique, steel tanks, then finally in bottle.
In the glass the wine shone a murky amber-red. Really one of the most interesting wine colors I’ve ever seen. it looked more like a red ale! Aromas of apples and apple peel mingled with fresh herbs and dried oregano along side subtle expressions of both white and pink pepper. Its savory character intensified on the palate with baby’s breath and daisy detail and apple peel notes framing a core of dried oregano. Dry and full-bodied with 14% abv and fine-grained tannins braced by bright acidity.