The Livio Felluga 2020 Friuli Colli Orientali Pinot Grigio Curubella displays a coppery hue, or "ramato" in Italian, thanks to minimal skin contact. Aged in amphorae, it develops a textural richness rarely found in standard Pinot Grigio. This depth carries through to both the aromas and flavors, where notes of peach skin, mandarin, grapefruit, and a hint of spicy saffron burst forth. It is a striking example of the traditional Pinot Grigio style that has defined the region for centuries.

The 2022 Friulano regular bottling from Livio Felluga is a lovely wine, showing pretty and stylish ripe fruit and tipping the scales at 13.5 percent octane in this vintage. The wine’s aromatic constellation is bright and complex, hopping from the glass in a mix of pear, lime, green olive, a lovely foundation of white soil tones, spring flowers and a topnote of orange zest. On the palate the wine is vibrant, complex and full-bodied, with lovely depth of fruit, fine mineral undertow, zesty acids and lovely focus on the long, bouncy and well balanced finish. There is just a whisper of reductive bitterness on the finish right now, which dissipates nicely with a bit of time in the decanter. Fine juice. 2024-2030.

Friulian sauvignon blanc is such a lovely wine and Livio Felluga makes one of the finest I have tasted. Their 2022 version is also showing a bit of reduction from its closure when first opened, so aeration prior to serving is again necessary to enjoy the wine properly. With air, it offers up a lovely nose of gooseberry, lime, a touch of casaba melon, damp grass, a fine base of soil and a topnote of white flowers. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, zesty and well balanced, with a good core, lovely soil signature, bouncy acids and fine focus and grip on the long, complex and nicely balanced finish. This is fine juice, just make sure you decant it before serving! 2024-2030.

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.