Traversing the winding roads from Spilimbergo to the Farm at Azzano Decimo, one passes many vineyards and small towns. The vineyards, still asleep, look naked next to the bright green grasses refreshed from a day of steady rain. Disembarking from the bus, our group was immediately greeted and offered Prosciutto and a glass of Lison, a Friulano.
Our first late afternoon stop was Principi di Porcia the name of the winery at the Farm at Azzano Decimo. We quickly learned that there is more than one type of fermentation occurring at the farm. The milk from the cows is used in cheese production. The cow manure is collected and fermented to produce methane. This in turn is used to create energy used to power the farm including the winery. There is sufficient energy left over to provide power to 3,000 residents.
After a return to the tasting area, we tasted four more wines and listened to a presentation by Count Guecello outlining the many businesses that are part of the company that includes the vineyards/winery, energy production from renewable resources and many others. The wines tasted included a Sauvignon, Pinot Grigio, Verduzzo Friulano and a red blend called Torre Colombera (the tower of the pigeons) a title referring to messages carried by pigeons in the middle ages. Think of it as the Twitter of the Middle Ages. During our wine tasting a magnum of wine was presented to fellow writer/blogger Liza Swift who was this year’s winner of the retweet contest.
After our winery visit we headed to our final dinner together at Trattoria Cavour. San Simone Winery provided the evening’s wines and Anna and her husband Antonio of San Simone were at dinner to discuss the wines. The dinner was excellent and comments included dieting on returning home. The media FAM group was somewhat tired after an intense week at the International Wine Tourism Conference in Zagreb and traveling to wineries in the Friuli area of Italy. Our trip to Friuli is one to be cherished for many years and we appreciate the hard work the organizers and wineries put in presenting the food, wines and friendship of Friuli.
Terry Sullivan
