Miani

Miani’s History and Philosophy

Making a good wine is not particularly difficult: a certain amount of preparation and technical competence, good soils and a good microclimate, a capital, the resources necessary for the proper functioning of the marketing of wines and a refinement in the bottle, are usually more that enough. The proof is the very large number of excellent wines produced all over the world, often by people who have recently entered the field, and in areas where the vineyards have been cultivated for a short period of time. Who, a generation ago, would have thought that Washington Columbia Valley or New Zealand’s Marlborough district would be reliable sources of well-made wine?

Making great wine, particularly with continuity and systematicity, is a much more difficult task, and doing it with a wide range of different vines is something extremely rare. And few succeed more frequently than Enzo Pontoni , who cultivates in the western part of the Colli Orientali del Friuli DOC . The cellars are in Buttrio , like many plots of vineyards, but Pontoni does not suffer from any kind of local patriotism and is happy to also cultivate land in Manzano . These are the classic areas for an excellent Friulian red wine, points where the heat of the plain east of Udine is felt by maturing vines that suffer in the colder areas towards Gorizia. Vineyards are one thing, but the ways of growing, of course, vary from estate to estate, and in the case of this producer one could almost talk about gardening rather than cultivation. The observation unit is not the area or the plot, sometimes not even the row.

The wines of Miani

Pontoni’s sense of terroir would seem to be based on the single vine, each enjoying the attention and care it needs and deserves. More tanned, even during the winter, than a tanning salon owner, it’s not hard to understand what his priorities are, and the microscopic yields – the 2500-bottle blend, Miani Bianco is already a consistent offering for him – proving a total commitment to quality. Chardonnay Sauvignon, Merlot, Refosco – all of these, in his hands, give life to wines of exceptional caliber. But his heart has a particular affection for Refosco, and his heart has its reasons that reason does not know.