Ronchi di Cialla Schioppettino di Cialla | 1992

Since the Middle Ages, Schioppettino was prized for its unique personality and its rarity, as its cultivation was limited to just two villages in Friuli: Cialla and Prepotto. When planted outside of these villages, Schioppettino wasn’t the same — it was flat, versus being piquant and supremely crunchy. In the middle of the nineteenth century, Phylloxera raged and destroyed the majority of Schioppettino vines. Consequently, farmers replanted the easier-to-grow, and easier-to-sell, international varietals, and during the first half of the 20th century, Schioppettino went Poof! You can’t discuss its revival without talking about Ronchi Di Cialla. At the end of the 1960s, Friulian bureaucrats considered the grape extinct and excluded it from the list of approved Friulian varieties. Then in 1970, the Rapuzzi family founded Ronchi di Cialla and joined forces with the mayor of Prepotto. Together, they uncovered sixty vines of Schioppettino and selected the best shoots to repropagate the grape in Cialla. 1977 marked their first commercial vintage and since then, the family has held back vintages in their cellar, sharing Schioppettino’s greatness with the world.

A bargain for the library wine enthusiast, the nose crackles with violets, white pepper, and crumbles of dark earth. More medium body than full, dried red berries linger in the back, and Christmas cake-like clove and cocoa spices move to the forefront. The 1992 vintage shows off the marvelous aging capability of an indigenous grape and its beloved story of survival. ~Allegra A