***WINE FUTURES ARRIVING & SHIPPING APRIL 2023***

For three generations, the Fantinel family has dry farmed vineyards flanked by old oaks, chestnuts, and acacia trees in the northeastern-most corner of Italy at the base of the Alps on the Slovenian border.

These La Roncaia vineyards are planted atop an ancient seabed that's lifted up from the colliding of the African and European plates. These uplifted sandstone deposits give the La Roncaia wines excellent soils for burying deep roots within. 

My notes:

La Roncaia Refosco 2017 Friuli Colli Orientali DOC - $49/bottle MSRP
92-points James Suckling
Made from the eloquently named and native Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso grape, and somewhat Amarone-styled (some clusters are sun-dried before pressing), the wine opens with an absolutely remarkable bouquet, distinctly Italian with stewed tomatoes, dried herbs, and Bing cherry kissed by raspberry reduction sauce. The palate is all terroir folks; dusty tannins, incense, fresh-turned leaves, red clay soil, and a clear delineation of the appassimento some of these grapes undergo. The finish is dry, eloquent, and resonates fruit seamlessly transitioning to vanilla and barrel spice that go on and on.