Technical Information
Picked: April 27, 2017
Area Harvested: 0.1Ha
Yield: 400Hl/Ha
Average Brix: 18
Varietal Percentage: 100% Picolit
Variety Information
Picolit (also known as Piccolit and Piccolito) is a white Italian wine grape variety grown predominately in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of northeast Italy. The grape is most commonly associated with sweet dessert wines often made in the passito style. Once favoured in Royal Courts from Great Britain to the Russian Empire, this dessert wine is made from petite berries. Given the ‘piccolo’ nature of the fruit and resultant low yields, wines made from Picolit are now quite rare.
The Pizzini 2017 Picolit is made in the passito style. By cutting the cordons, the fruit naturally air-dries increasing the concentration and the sugars of the grape, and results in a rich and textural desert style wine.
Vintage 2017
This vintage we had a very wet winter and spring, winter never seemed to end. This season variation in rain meant that we had very cold soils in spring, which led to a delay in the vines bud busting. Ultimately, this means the grape harvest started a month later than usual. It was quite cool and mild during late December and early January, which lead to maximum flavour development at lower sugar levels. The coolness of the vintage conditions was perfect for producing white varieties and early ripening reds.
Vinification
Once the grapes were vine dried to the right level they were hand-picked, then whole bunch pressed in a basket press, to collect the best free run juice. After pressing, the juice was left to settle overnight before racking for fermentation. Once fermentation reached 50g/L of residual sugar the fermentation was stopped to produce a wine that is luscious, rich and generous.
Maturation
Fining agent: isinglass
Filtration: sterile pad
The Wine
Golden straw in colour with a green olive hue. Rich, concentrated aromas of ripe pear, apricot, toffee, banana and cinnamon apples leap from the glass. The wine is sweet and generous with crisp acidity and refreshing flavours of green apple, pear, honey and spices. The palate is soft and viscous with a long finish. The 2017 Picolit is best served with vanilla panna cotta or with blue cheese and quince paste.
Final Analysis
Final Alcohol: 11.0%
Final Acid: 6.4 g/L Final PH: 3.36
Bottled: November 2017
Released: January 2017
