Friuli

Skies and lands, rivers and stones, scents, colours, and grape harvests.
A borderland in the heart of Europe.

Wine-growing zones
Weather stations
Controlled programme approach

Wine-growing zones

Cormòns: More than 120 wine growers welcome you in the heart of Europe, in the North-East of Italy, and precisely in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, featuring the most appreciable wine producing areas in the world.

COLLIO

Collio is a small southward-facing area forming a sort of half moon, spreading out from Gorizia to Dolegna and bordering with Slovenia in the north. Situated at the heart of this area, Cormòns is called the Friulian wine capital. Since the Middle Ages this area has been known for its excellent wines which once were served at the best tables in Europe, from Vienna to Moscow, from London to the Vatican. Today the Collio wines are famous throughout the world. The terrain of the DOC Collio area is characterised by gentle slopes and the Flysch of Cormòns, consisting of a sequence of sandstone and marl, rich in limestone, potassium and phosphorous, giving the wine of this area its unique connotation. The Flysch typically tends to crumble and therefore requires the construction of terraces, which have thus become a distinctive feature of the Collio landscape. The average temperature over the last ten years was 13.3°C (17.8° from April to October), with 1317 mm rainfall in 144 days plus a solar radiation of 101.646 Kcal/sqcm for a total of 1950 hours of sunshine.

DOC FRIULI

The Friuli DOC area takes its name from the clear waters of the Italian river Isonzo, whose source lies in the Julian Alps. It runs fast through clefts and ravines and finally slows its pace in Gorizia, fertilizing the rich Isonzo plain to the sea of Grado. Along the banks of this river, which was called “Frigidus” (cold) by the Romans, the tradition of wine growing has left traces that are thousands of years old. This piece of land, where also the Judrio, Torre and Versa rivers run, is home to wonderful white wines as well as excellent red wines. The terrain of the Friuli Isonzo DOC area is incredibly diverse: the countryside around Cormons and Gradisca in the north is mainly made of calcareous soil, rich in mineral compounds and hence ideal for wine growing; another strip of this terrain is characterised by floodplains and soils at the foot of the hills and is home to wonderful white wines and the beautiful town of Cormòns. The gravelly terrain of “Grave dell’Isonzo” is ideal for white and red wines alike. Depending on the specific areas, the average temperature over the last 10 years ranged from 13.1 to 13.6° (17.8° from April to October), with 1167.5 mm rainfall in 136 days and an amount of solar radiation of 97.790 kilocalories per square centimetre, for a total of 1864 hours of sunshine.

FRIULI COLLI ORIENTALI

The DOC area of Friuli Colli Orientali (Eastern Hills of Friuli) is a vast tongue of land including the hilly terrain in the province of Udine, spreading out from Corno di Rosazzo to Nimis, well known for its Verduzzo. The two-thousand-year-old wine growing tradition has its roots in Cividale, a wonderful Roman town which was the capital of the Lombard Duchy in the Middle Ages. The terrain of the Colli Orientali del Friuli is also characterised by the “Flysch of Cormòns” consisting of a sequence of sandstone and marl. Marl, or “ponca” in the Friulian dialect, is rich in limestone, potassium and phosphorous and therefore offers the best conditions for growing wine grapes on hill sites. In the area of Colli Orientali the rainfall tends to increase from Cividale to Ramandolo. The average ten-year temperature is 13.3° Celsius, while the average annual rainfall is 1393.2 mm in 163 days. The amount of solar radiation is 107.316 kilocalories per square centimetre, for a total of 2058 hours of sunshine.

Weather stations

Compared to traditional methods, plant protection has been made more efficient and effective by the Cantina Produttori Cormòns thanks to the introduction of fundamental innovations.

A network of eight peripheral weather stations has been installed. The stations are equipped with sensors to record air and soil temperature (C°), relative humidity (%), rainfall (mm), leaf wetting (in minutes), solar radiation (in Kcal/sqcm), wind speed (m/s) and wind direction.

The collected data are dispatched in real time to the Cantina’s main station, where they are processed and stored on an average rate per hour basis. The weather data are stored in a weather archive for research on locations with different microclimates; such a system assists the Cantina Members in making sensible choices about vine planting.

Daily data are very useful in the summer season as they allow to monitor grape downy mildew which is considered to be the most devastating and costly disease in our area (real time alert system).

An epidemiogical model is used, based on the “three ten” rule, corresponding to 10 mm rainfall, 10°C average temperature and 10 cm development of young vine shoots. According to the so-called “three ten” rule, when the three conditions exist at the same time, the primary infection is likely to occur.

When the development cycle is about to finish the main station sends an alarm and the technician records the message in the answering machine to urge the farmers to take relevant action. In this manner the Cantina Members intervene only when needed, thus limiting the number of treatments as well as the environmental footprint.

Controlled programme approach

Since 1980 the Cantina Produttori Cormòns has been aware of the issues related to top-quality wine production and, in a bid to combine tradition and innovation, modern wine growing techniques and the protection of the environment plus consumers’ and wine-growers’ health, we have adopted the most advanced methods of integrated production, based on an efficient technical assistance service. Building on the traditional techniques, the Cantina has made plant protection more efficient, adopting an integrated and controlled programme approach.

A network of eight weather stations situated in key locations enables to analyse the relevant microclimates and steadily monitor any vine diseases or infections. Especially in the summer season this system allows to monitor grape downy mildew which is considered to be the most devastating and costly disease in our region (real time alert system). When the development cycle is about to finish the main station sends an alarm and the technician records the message in the answering machine (SAT) to urge the Members to take relevant action.

In this manner the Cantina Members intervene only when needed, thus limiting the number of treatments as well as the environmental footprint. Furthermore, the Members adopt a system of joint purchase and distribution of plant protection products.

As a matter of fact, the cooperative procures the most adequate active substances with limited impact on human health and environment and it then distributes the products to the Members in proportion to the vineyard area cultivated. The Cantina also shares the knowledge about the major vineyard pests and their development cycles through the publication of a Monthly Bulletin called “Notizie Cantina Produttori Cormòns”, thus ensuring that all Members are kept up-to-date with the activities. Among the various innovations, the Countryside Notebook is a diary indicating the start and the end date of the grape phenological stages and the details relating to the cultivation practices. Finally, regular technical meetings are held during which updated information on grape growing is made available to the Members. Such information includes new fertilizing and agronomic techniques and any other relevant details.