Mario Zanusso and his father, Ferdinando, believe in making white wine according to an aesthetic for white wine: very fresh (high acidity), very crisp (lots of minerality from the unique flysch soil of the area), very low in alcohol (10%) BUT with complexity and depth (some of which comes from the fact that the vines are 40-80 years old).
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According to the same aesthetic, I Clivi makes two cru (single vineyard) wines with the native grape, Friuliano: I Clivi Brazan and I Clivi Galea.
Even though the wines were made in the same way in the cellar, they come from two different vineyards. The Galea, from the Zanusso vineyard in Colli Orientali, was lighter in color and in alcohol, 12.5% and slightly more open, while the Brazan, from the Collio, a few kilometers closer to the sea and steeper, was distinctly saltier, a little heavier (13%) and more closed, austere. But both had the characteristics that Mario talked about earlier.
I Clivi Ribolla Gialla IGP del Friuli $20-25
I Clivi “Galea” Friuliano Colli Orientali del Friuli DOC $25-35
I Clivi “Brazan” Friuliano Collio DOC $30-50
