2023 Vie di Romans - Pinot Grigio Dessemis (750ml)

Vie di Romans is based in Mariano del Friuli, at the heart of the Friuli Isonzo DOC, where winemaker Gianfranco Gallo farms around 65 hectares of vineyards. Gallo took over the family estate more than three decades ago and, since 1990, has produced nearly all of his wines as single-vineyard, single-variety bottlings. His approach favors low yields and later-than-average picking dates, and he typically releases his wines a year after the local norm to let them develop fully in the cellar first.

Dessimis comes from vines at least twenty years old, planted in shallow, rocky soils rich in reddish clay and iron oxide within the Dessimis vineyard. The grapes undergo an extended skin maceration that gives the wine its distinctive copper hue, sometimes called Ramato in the region, before nine months of aging on the lees and a further period resting in bottle. This combination of soil, site, and extended aging gives the wine notable depth and structure compared to more straightforward styles of Pinot Grigio.

The wine shows a pale copper to platinum-pink color, with an expressive bouquet of dried flowers, ginger-infused peach, and sweet almond alongside more classic stone fruit notes. The palate is textured and full-bodied, carrying nectarine and pear flavors on a wave of cooling acidity through to a long, mineral-driven finish.