Schiopetto

Mario Schiopetto was one of the great protagonists of the revival of Friulian wine. He was able to sense the territory's potential and turn it into a value that quickly became established in Italy and around the world. The son of restaurateurs, owners of the Osteria ai Pompieri, he began his work by helping his father choose wines for the osteria and then ran it himself. His love of wine led him to move from trading and then to production. In 1965 he bottled the first Tocai dei Colli Friulani, a legendary label that set the course for renewal and a modern conception of wine. From bulk, not only was the transition to bottle, but special attention was paid to quality, with the desire to be able to make great white wines.
Thanks to this courageous choice, Mario Schiopetto became part of the elite of the Italian wine scene. Along with the likes of Bruno and Marcello Ceretto, Piero Antinori, Giacomo Bologna, Maurizio Zanella, Franco and Jacopo Biondi Santi, Niccolò Incisa della Rocchetta and Angelo Gaja, contributed to the Italian wine renaissance of the 1970s, which led to the achievement of a level of absolute excellence. His wines improved over time thanks in part to his curiosity, which led him to travel and compare himself with other European producers. In Germany he refined the techniques of winemaking whites, and in France he learned above all the search for finesse and elegance, which would later become a stylistic feature of his production.

The knowledge he learned abroad led Mario Schiopetto to make vineyards with high density and low yields, in order to prioritize quality and to harvest the grapes at full maturity, but always preserving their freshness. The original nucleus of the estate is located in Capriva del Friuli, in a beautiful hilly area, characterized by soils composed of Flysch, ponca in Friulian, or deep stratifications of calcareous marls and sandstones of ancient marine origin, very rich in mineral elements. In addition to Capriva, today the property has fine vineyards in the areas of Zegla, Pradis and Oleis, true crus of the Collio area of Gorizia. The wines are the synthesis of high quality grapes, a suitable terroir and maniacal attention in the cellar, always oriented towards the search for elegance and longevity.