Spencer’s Spotlight
A Few Notes on Picolit
Our Thursday tasting this week features the wines of Giorgio Colutta as presented by Lauren Tompkins of Grappoli Imports. The Colutta farm and winery is located in the farthest reaches of northeast Italy, in the rolling hills of the Colli Orientali. This area is closer to Austria and Germany stylistically than to the rest of Italy, and it’s no surprise that white wine grapes flourish here. However, the most highly prized white grape in the Colli Orientali, Picolit, produces lightly honeyed, sweet wines, but struggles annually and challenges growers:
-The grape itself is small, but with large pips (seeds).
-The vine is extremely vigorous, requiring time in the vineyard to restrain it.
-Early, sparse flowering, and late ripening combine for a long growing season, and exposure to unwelcome rain and hail.
-Picolit suffers from a genetic mutation that aborts flowers before pollination, resulting in precious few berries per bunch.
-Because of its flowering habits, late ripening and vigor, the vine requires some of the best hillside vineyard sites- those with excellent sun exposure, poor soils, and good ventilation.
-Many producers, including Colutta, dry the grapes to further concentrate sugars (the vine has already done a lot of the work in this respect).
The above challenges present themselves even in the best vintages. Growing and producing Picolit requires lots of time, attention and resources, and as a result, many producers have abandoned production. Total production is around 150,000 bottles, most of which are 375 or 500ml.- that’s 12,000 cases, in mostly small bottles!
Join us Thursday for a rare opportunity to try Picolit.
I have always wanted to try Picolit! What a rare and exciting opportunity you have presented to the Richmond wine community. See you Thursday!