RIBOLLA GIALLA – Features of the Ribolla Gialla and Spumante

Ribolla Gialla – Origins and types

Ribolla Gialla is another grape that is certainly native to Friuli, a white berry typical of the eastern hills of Friuli Venezia Giulia and the former Yugoslavia. Ribuele for the Friulians. Rébula in Slovenian, is initially cultivated almost exclusively on the hilly belt, which, from Tarcento, arrives through the Karst to Istria. Since 2011, the specification “Ribolla Gialla di Rosazzo” is reserved for wines obtained in the homonymous sub-area which includes part of the municipalities of Corno di Rosazzo, Manzano and San Giovanni al Natisone.

In recent years Ribolla Gialla is spreading also in the plains.

Already in the twelfth century the “Rabiola” of Collio was known and appreciated among the wines of Friuli. Some authors hypothesize that the vine is a derivation of Avola grapes imported by the Romans during their domination of these lands, but there is no historical documentation that could support this theory.

Of the natives is the one that boasts the oldest document (1299). Today Ribolla Gialla gives life to wines interpreted in different ways:

• as a young white: slender, with a pleasant freshness. Delicate, immediate and flowery nose that is also maintained on the palate;
• then obtained from maceration on the skins and then aged in cask, according to the “school of Oslavia”, which gives challenging and profound wines, out of the usual patterns;
• finally as an excellent sparkling wine base, thanks to the intuition of a producer from Corno di Rosazzo who in 1987 came out with the first Ribolla giallo brut (obtained after years of experimentation) using the Charmat method appropriately revised. A sparkling wine with a compact and thin foam, very fine perlage with excellent tendency to aging. Starting from that experience, in recent years, there have been many Friulian winemakers who get excellent sparkling wines from Ribolla Gialla

Ribolla Gialla – Color

Straw yellow, with weak greenish reflections, more attenuated and with more golden nuances until orange in the versions subjected to aging in wood or subjected to longer maceration.

Ribolla Gialla – The bunches

The Ribolla Gialla bunches are small, medium-compact, with crushed berries at the poles, yellow alabastrine.

Ribolla Gialla – Smell

The bouquet, in its complexity and discretion, recalls the acacia flower, chestnut and oak.

Ribolla Gialla – Taste

Dry, citrine, with medium alcohol content, drinkable, inviting.

Ribolla Gialla – Wine characteristics

From the Ribolla Gialla grapes, vinified in white, a young, fresh and delicate wine is produced, with an always lively acidity, a delicate taste and a characteristic fruity aroma. The “mature” wine, macerated and / or aged in wood, with a pale straw-yellow color with greenish reflections, becomes more demanding, with a taste that is however dry and fresh, pleasantly perfumed. Ribolla Gialla Spumante elaborated with the long Charmat method, combines freshness and fragrant notes, with a fine and persistent mousse, as well as the texture of the bubbles that make up its fine perlage

Ribolla Gialla – Gastronomic combinations

Ribolla Gialla young: aperitif, appetizers and fried fish. Perfect on breaded and fried Gulf of Trieste sardines and on oysters and sea truffles (an alternative for those who do not love the sweet caress of Picolit). White fish usually seasoned with Tergeste extra virgin olive oil,

“Transparency” of cod and buffalo mozzarella, herring with Radicchio Rosa di Gorizia. To be served fresh to underline its strength: 8-10 ° C.

Ribolla yellow macerated and aged in wood: Wine for soups, especially creams and velvety, challenging dishes such as barley and beans, fish broth in red, pasta with meat sauce, up to white meat like hen, rabbit or guinea fowl. More complex than the young version, it asks for a temperature between 10-12 ° C and a precise glass without alternatives, just as it is in the style of wine.

Sparkling yellow Ribolla: unsurpassable as an aperitif and with Cormons raw ham, but also throughout the meal, excluding red meat and desserts. Excels on appetizers and fish dishes. Delicious, and by conversation, after a meal.

Ribolla Gialla – Aging

If “thought” as a young wine, it should be drunk within two years; aged in wood it has a much longer life.