A Ribolla Rainbow

Some of you might know that I moonlight as a sommelier at Terroni. Well, there’s some exciting news in Terroni World- a second, gorgeous location is about to open in downtown Los Angeles. Seriously guys, this is going to be one of the best looking restaurant spaces in LA. There are still a lot of finishing touches to be made, final inspections, etc,  but owner Max just couldn’t wait and decided to host a wine tasting for trade to show off the new digs. The star of the tasting, other than the fab restaurant? Ribolla Gialla from Oslavia in Friuli.

The six winemakers that belong to the Association of Ribolla di Oslavia Producers were in attendance- Radikon, Primosic, Princic, La Castellada, Fiegl, and Il Carpino. FYI- Oslavia is a village near the town of Gorizia in the Collio appelation of Friuli, a stone’s throw from Slovenia. If you don’t know, now you know! Some truly interesting wines are made in this part of the world.

Ribolla Gialla, a late ripening grape with thick skin, is the star of the indigenous white grape show in Oslavia. Ribolla wine can vary drastically in style. But in Oslavia, it is now becoming more commonly made with some amount of skin contact, due in part to the pioneering efforts of the Radikon family, to resurrect a more traditional way of winemaking. Historically, winemakers in the area (and a lot of other areas in the world) didn’t have a lot of money for equipment, no yeasts or enzymes, no SO2, and it was easier to just leave the skins on the juice after pressing. They made white wine just as they made their red wine, and quite naturally.

The wines poured for us varied in the length of skin maceration, and you can see the different shades of gold and amber as result. What I love about Ribolla, and skin contact whites in general, is their food pairing versatility. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.

There’s interesting texture and a kind of sweet/savory/spice combo. I think this style of wine does incredibly well with herbacious, savory, or salty foods, like the salt cod fritters we had (pictured above) or the AMAZING quail tortellini below.

Such a wonderful afternoon spent with these passionate winemakers trying to share the love of their land and their wines. Hope you seek these out, and if you live in LA, stay tuned for the grand opening of the downtown Terroni. You’ll definitely be able to drink some Ribolla there.

8 Comments
  • joyo
    June 9, 2013

    it’s times like these where i feel even more gleeful about living in DTLA. yayyyyy!!!

  • Ken
    June 9, 2013

    Just rec’d new Food & Wine mag…nice item on Bottle Stock! Good luck!!
    Ken

    • whitney
      June 10, 2013

      thanks ken!! pinching myself. so awesome.

  • Ellen
    June 9, 2013

    Oooooh, I’ve been to Terroni, didn’t realize you were the somm! As an east sides I’m happy to hear there will be one downtown:)

  • Whitney society
    June 10, 2013

    I would have loved this event and the food looks great. BTW I love your blog. Hoping to get a sommelier certification this fall!

  • Iris
    June 13, 2013

    Oh cool, I just went to one of the Toronto locations–didn’t put two and two together that it was the same Terroni. I loved it! Everything was delicious. Now I feel bad that I didn’t order any wine.

  • Michael
    June 25, 2013

    I love the La Castellada. Such a fun wine. Awesome post and pictures.