B-21 Top Recommendation
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Known among insiders and critics alike as producing some of Italy's best white wines, the Colli Orientali in Friuli-Venezia Giulia is home to prestigious producers like Schioppetto and Vie di Romans, high profile labels often with prices to match. Boasting rich complexity at a fraction of the price, the outstanding 94pt Via Alpina Sauvignon offers beautifully lush aromatics with Friuli's "vividly intense fruit profiles and acidity to balance" according to Vinous critic Eric Guido, a uniquely exciting take on Sauvignon Blanc from one of the region's top winemakers offering incredible value to enjoy again and again.
Coming from a family known for their exceptional wines, third generation Giampaolo Venica is an unassuming winemaker we'd meet up with year after year at Vinitaly, chatting over breakfast at the Hotel Colombo d'Oro near the Roman amphitheatre in preparation for another day of tasting ahead. Continuing to create top-rated wines at his family's Venica and Venica winery, Via Alpina is Giampaolo's personal project, crafting his 100% Sauvignon Blanc from an elite group of undisclosed "farming friends," whose organically cultivated vines are planted on calcareous, marine sandstone soils known locally as "ponca." Named for its location in the eastern hills near the border of Slovenia, the renowned Colli Orientali enjoys a unique microclimate, its proximity to the warmer Adriatic combining with the protective presence and drying winds of the Julian Alps to yield "expressive fruit, mineral character and firm acidity" according to the Wine Spectator's Alison Napjus that gives "dry white wines from top regions such as Alsace and Burgundy a run for their money."
Equally enjoyable for sipping or when paired with the region's succulent Prosciutto di San Daniele, Giampaolo's powerfully textured 94pt 2020 Via Alpina Sauvignon layers beautiful aromatics over fresh, energetic fruit hinting of spice with an intense, lingering finish – a winning choice for fans of Chablis, Sancerre and any finely crafted Sauvignon Blanc, now at "off the charts" value pricing for stocking up by the case.
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