The vineyards of the Livio Felluga estate straddle the famous Colli Orientali and Collio wine regions in Friuli situated in the Julian Alps, in northwest Italy, on the border with Slovenia. The estate takes its name from its founder, Livio Felluga who moved to Friuli in the late 1930s. Returning to Italy was not easy for survivors of the Second World War. The country population had left, impoverishing the land and abandoning the crops, values, and traditions bound to it. Livio had to take on a new struggle to restore life in the Friuli countryside. He began to renovate the old vineyards and plant new ones, introducing innovative ideas and methods. He helped re-orient Friulian winemaking from a red wine–dominated industry to a quality white-wine focus, elevating the local Friulano grape and Sauvignon Blanc. Those varieties were better suited to the climate and helped introduce the region to the global market. It would lead him to create one of the most significant estates in Italy and there are few wine producers who have been more important in establishing the quality image of Italian white wines than Livio Felluga. He died aged 102 in 2016.
The Winecroft featured white wine for January is the 2020 Livio Felluga Friulano. It is straw yellow in colour, the nose is intense with complex aromas of mint, lemon peel, vanilla, ginger, and white pepper interlaced with herbal notes of thyme and rosemary. The wine is well-balanced, full and elegant with a pleasant acidity and a quintessential bitter almond aftertaste on the long finish.
This wine is on the winelist at The River Cafe, the long-established Italian Michelin-starred restaurant in Hammersmith, London.
