2020 Skerk Carso Ograde Venezia-Giulia Bianco

‘Orange,’ you groan. ‘Not an orange wine!’ Yes. Drink it. It’s good, and good for you! You told me you wanted to experiment once in a while, and this November is your month to do it! And, to be fair, this is not your typical, run-of-the-mill orange wine. It’s a wine with pedigree and class. And not flawed at all either, as so many of the Johnny-come-lately orange-style wines are. The man behind the wine is one Sandi Skerk and the land he organically farms is called Carso. Carso, or Karst on the other side of the Slovenian border. Karst, is also the technical name of the soil- a unique formation of decayed, weepy limestone that is rich in iron giving it a signature red color and a mineral content that is palpable in the wine. Visiting the property is an experience. Sandi is in the midst of undertaking the building of a new cellar with underground fermenting and aging tanks made completely of limestone- a material he says is optimal for his wines. I had never seen tanks made of limestone before and Sandi laughed and said ‘no one has!’ Skerk is a proponent of extended skin contact not because ‘orange wine’ is a ‘thing’ right now, but because it doesn’t make sense for him to produce his whites any other way. In the old days, it was common to use large amounts of SO2 as a preservative, but Sandi's grandfather, instead, left the wine on the skins because the inherent tannins would naturally protect the juice from oxidation and hence minimize any necessary addition of sulfur. That the wine was orange or salmon colored was just a byproduct of the process. Skerk specializes in the indigenous grapes of the region- the Carso Vitovska, a local variant of Malvasia and the red Terano, a local clone of the Refosco grape seen throughout the rest of Friuli. He also has tiny parcels of Sauvignon and Pinot Grigio which he saves for his top wine- an outstanding blend of the four whites- called Ograde. The grapes for this cuvee are macerated on their skins for 15 days before crushing creating an amazing color with an incredibly complex nose of flamed orange peel, blood orange, allspice or clove and wild herb that lead to a palate with considerable weight and texture that finishes all limestone mineral. It’s a totally unique wine that I found entrancing on its own but with such amazing natural acidity that it went beautifully with a local dish of Frico, a weighty layered package of potato, apple and the famous Montasio cheese of the region. Sandi said he loves it with the local seafood from nearby Trieste- a whole stuffed San Pietro for example or grilled octopus. How ever you like it, give it a try and discover for yourself an amazing example of the state-of-the-art (or back-to-the-future) in one of Italy’s most dynamic growing regions. I promise you’ll love it!