"Wine needs time." This is the rule that guides I Clivi, and one sip is enough to understand how seriously they take it. Here fashion is not chased: a heritage is preserved.

A family story

The winery was born in 1994, when Ferdinando Zanusso, together with his son Mario, gave shape to a simple and courageous dream: to buy old vineyards of native varieties in the heart of the Collio, in Brazzano di Cormons. Starting from two hectares; today the estate managed by Mario carries forward the same vision, with about twelve hectares divided between two classic territories of Italian wine.

Two crus, two souls

I Clivi guards two distinct vineyards, a few kilometers apart but in two different denominations: Galea, in the Colli Orientali del Friuli, on the hills of Gramogliano; and Brazan, in the Collio Goriziano, in Brazzano. The vines are between 60 and 80 years old, with some plants nearing a century. Galea, sheltered and sunny, gives notes of flint, almond, and honey; Brazan, closer to the sea and beaten by the winds breaking on Mount Quarin, is more savory, deep, and elegant. Two different ways of telling the story of the same prince grape of Friuli: Friulano.

The philosophy: subtract, do not add

In the vineyard the work is manual and organic, without chemical products or fertilizers. In the cellar the consistency is total: only free-run must (the first, most prized pressing), spontaneous fermentations, no filtration or clarification, aging in steel with long times on fine lees. The whites do not macerate on the skins: they are crystalline, taut, and deep Friulians. Territoriality, longevity, and a rare lightness are the three watchwords of the house. Besides Friulano, the range includes Ribolla Gialla, Verduzzo, Malvasia, and Merlot.

Thanks to Coravin you can taste them by the glass: they are wines that open slowly in the glass, and it is worth giving them time.

Come and taste them — The wines of I Clivi await you in the enoteca and by the glass at our Coravin Wine Bar, in Via Carlo Maderno 23 in Lugano.