I tasted the 2020 vintage of the Illivio Bianco bottling from Livio Felluga a year ago and was very happy to have the chance to revisit it this year. The wine is made from a blend of pinot bianco, chardonnay and picolit. It is barrel-fermented and raised in barriques for ten months prior to bottling. The 2020 Illivio is blossoming beautifully with another year’s worth of bottle age, wafting from the glass in a complex blend of tart orange, green olive, fruit blossoms, citrus peel, a lovely base of soil tones and just a whisper of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is vibrant, fullbodied and complex, with an excellent core of fruit, superb mineral undertow and grip, zesty acids and impeccable balance on the long and classy finish. I love the slightly bitter closing note of citrus peel in this wine. This is outstanding juice. 2024-2035.

Livio Felluga’s 2022 Pinot Grigio is a complex and classy example of this underrated varietal. It is nicely ripe and precise in this vintage, offering up a complex bouquet of apple, dried flowers, delicate notes of hazelnut, a fine base of soil and a nice touch of Chablis-like straw in the upper register. On the palate the wine is a bit more reductive than the lovely Friulano when first poured, so decanting for fifteen or twenty minutes before serving is an absolute essential for this wine right now. However, with some aeration to allow the reductive aspects to blow off, the wine blossoms beautifully to deliver a full-bodied format that shows lovely depth of fruit and soil signature (particularly for Pinot Grigio!), bright acids, lovely focus and grip and a long, complex and beautifully balanced finish. This is first class Pinot Grigio, just make sure you decant it first! 2024-2030.

It has been two years since I last drank a bottle of Livio Felluga’s “reserve” bottling of Friulano, called Sigar. The wine is made from some of the oldest Friulano vines on the estate, with many dating back to 1963. As I mentioned back in 2022, this bottling undergoes its malolactic fermentation in terracotta amphorae and is aged in the same vessels prior to bottling. The 2019 Sigar is aging beautifully and today offers up a superb bouquet of apple, pear, toasted hazelnuts, a touch of green olive, orange peel, still a lovely base of salty soil tones and that same gentle botanical topnote that recalls the Herrenberg vineyard from Maximin Grünhaus. On the palate the wine is still bright, deep and full-bodied, with a superb core of fruit, fine soil inflection, zesty acids and lovely balance on the long, complex finish that closes with a lovely savory streak. Fine juice. 2024-2029.

The 2021 Barbera d’Alba Superiore “Fides” bottling from Pio Cesare is an excellent example of this single vineyard cuvée from vines in Monforte d’Alba. The wine comes in at 14.5 percent alcohol in this vintage and offers up a deep and complex bouquet of black cherries, sweet dark berries, a touch of road tar, dark soil tones, hung game, fresh oregano, cigar smoke and a lovely framing of smoky oak. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, focused and quite suave on the attack, with a fine core of black fruit, a good base of soil, firm, well-integrated tannins and lovely length and grip on the well balanced and complex finish. Though this carries the same alcohol level as the 2022 Barbara normale bottling, there is no hint of backend heat here. Just give it a bit of time in the cellar to soften up properly. 2029-2050.

The Nebbiolo della Langhe bottling from Pio Cesare is aged thirty months in oak, with twenty percent being barriques and the remainder being botti. The 2021 version is fairly ripe, coming in at 14.5 percent octane and offers up a lovely bouquet of red and black cherries, anise, pigeon, a lovely base of soil tones, a touch of red curry, fresh oregano, just a hint of cedar and a topnote of rose petals. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, focused and nicely soil-driven in personality, with a fine core of fruit, ripe tannins and lovely length and grip on the ripe, but beautifully balanced finish. This is very tasty. 2032-2060.