I Clivi

The story of the I Clivi winery is one of winemakers by choice, rather than by tradition. It was founded in 1996 by Ferdinando Zanusso, originally from the Veneto region and a great connoisseur of French wines. Ferdinando worked for many years around the world and on his return from a trip to Africa decided to buy a small vineyard in the Collio area in the village of Brazzano di Cormons, his wife's homeland. A few months later his son Mario, who has a degree in Economics, joined him. Together they decided to buy another vineyard, Galea, in the town of Corno di Rosazzo, and there they built the winery.

The I Clivi vineyard is located at an altitude of 200 metres and extends over 12 hectares divided into two different plots a few kilometres apart, which fall within two different denomination areas, one in Collio Goriziano and the other in Colli Orientali del Friuli. The vines, which are between 60 and 80 years old, are rooted in soils composed of sandstone marl, which gives great personality and character to the grapes, resulting in complex and mineral wines. The old vines here have a low yield, but they resist disease and climate change well.

The idea that drives Ferdinando and Mario is the production of high quality wines that are an authentic expression of the territory. For this reason they have chosen to cultivate old vines of indigenous varieties, which allow for the most natural cultivation possible without the use of machinery: Friulano, Verduzzo, Ribolla Gialla and Malvasia. In the vineyard, no fertilisers or irrigation is used, pruning is proportionate to the vegetative capacity of each individual plant, the use of copper and sulphur for the protection of the plants respects the quantity permitted by the organic regulations and the harvest is carried out manually. Even in the cellar, the work is carried out in the least invasive way possible, practising spontaneous vinification, without maceration or filtration, exclusively in steel and with indigenous yeasts. The objective is to preserve the integrity of the wine. In this way, the I Clivi winery produces aromatic wines with an important structure and good ageing potential. With an eye towards elegance, Ferdinando and Mario try to limit the alcohol content of their wines, giving them a wonderful acidity and making them easy to drink.