« I first drank Prosecco when my mom and I visited her sister, who was a nun in Valdobbiadene, the epicentre of Prosecco. It was a cloudy, white, refreshing wine served in a large pitcher. Who would have known it would become the largest selling wine from Italy.

Fast forward to the Ziraldo Prosecco... »

- Donald J.P. Ziraldo

IS A FUTURE BRAND OF VENETIAN WINES.
VINTNERS’ VALUE OVERDELIVERED.

TODAY: SINGLE-VINEYARD PROSECCO FROM CONEGLIANO VALDOBBIADENE.
TOMORROW: ALSO PROSECCO ROSÉ AND A VENETIAN PINOT GRIGIO.

The vineyard for the Ziraldo Prosecco is less than an hour’s drive north of Venice In the ‘Al Canevon’ Estate: a 40 hectares hill between the towns of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene a “cultural landscape” which holds the UNESCO world heritage site distinction.

Vinification: softly pressed and without skin contact
Primary fermentation: static decantation followed by temperature-controlled fermentation
Secondary fermentation: 30 days
Refermentation in 25 or 50-hl pressure tanks charmat method

On July 7, 2019 at the 43rd Session of the World Heritage Committee held in Baku, Azerbaijan, the prosecco hills of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene joined the list of more than 1,100 United Nations Educational, Scientific And Cultural Organization (UNESCO) world heritage sites. The area becomes Italy’s 55th world heritage site, joining the Venice Lagoon and eight buildings designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Similar to Brae Burn barn at Inniskillin in Niagara, Canada.

The mild climate here, between the Adriatic Sea and the Alps, and the constant breeze are the perfect terroir for the glera grapes’ sufficient rainfall secures regular irrigation in very well drained steep slopes.

Prosecco is made from the grape variety Glera.

Prosecco was traditionally used as the name for the grape variety. When the higher DOCG status was sought for Prosecco di Conegliano e Valdobbiadene, it became a complication that the grape and the protected designation of origin had the same name. To resolve the issue, within the EU the old synonym Glera was officially adopted for the variety at the same time as the DOCG was approved in 2009 to protect the appellation.

Prosecco wines , described as ‘frizzante’ or lightly sparkling, are all made using the Charmat winemaking method, which means the secondary fermentation is vinified in pressurized stainless steel tanks versus Champagnes that use the Méthode Champenoise with secondary fermentation in bottle. Charmat method is also referred to as ‘cuve close’ (closed tank).

• Prosecco Brut: 0-12 g/l RS – Dry Style

• Prosecco Extra-Dry: 12-17 g/l RS – Off-Dry Style

• Prosecco Dry: 17-32 g/l RS – Sweetest Style

Glera is believed to be an old variety, and the name Prosecco was derived from the village Prosecco near Trieste, in the Friuli Venetia Giulia region where the grape may have originated.

Limestone terroir adds depth, leanness, and finesse to the Prosecco.

Prosecco is the most sold sparkling wine in the world. 330 M bottles are released each year.
It is produced by more than eight thousand wineries... 50,000 acres... and 269 sparkling houses.

Technical

Origin: Valdobbiadene / Conegliano
Grape: 100% Glera, hand picked entirely in September: maximum
Appellation: Prosecco DOC Treviso

Acidity: 4.99
Pressure: 4 bars
Sugar: 15.2 grams
Extract: 30 grams

Tasting Notes

Extra dry, golden glow.
Alluring aroma, fine and persistent notes of fruit, predominant scents of golden apples.
Vibrant yet subtle, refreshing and piquant, with a delicate mousse carrying flavours of crunchy and crispy.
Heirloom apples delightfully versatile.

Where to Buy

🇨🇦 CANADA

ONTARIO

Danny Sanelli
tel: (647) 588-9463

https://www.winehouseimports.com

RESTAURANTS

Quadro Ristorante, 577 College St, Toronto www.quadroristorante.com

David Rocco Bar Aperitivo, 95 Cumberland St. Toronto davidroccobaraperitivo.ca

Copper Blues, 156 Jozo Weider Blvd Unit #3, The Blue Mountains www.copperblues.com

Speducci Mercatto, 46 Milford Ave, North York speducci.com

Eataly, 55 Bloor Street West, Toronto www.eataly.ca

Coppi Ristorante, 3363 Yonge St, Toronto www.coppi.ca

BIAGIO, 155 King St E, Toronto www.biagioristorante.com

KaiserHaus Wine Bar & Bistro, 38 Lakeport Rd, St. Catharines www.kaiserhaus.ca

Casa Mia Ristorante, 3518 Portage Rd, Niagara Falls casamiaristorante.com

Fallsview Casino Niagara, Mario Prudente, 6380 Fallsview Blvd, Niagara Falls fallsviewcasinoresort.com

Mercato Zacconi, 215 Preston St, Ottawa mercatozacconi.com

Verdicchio Ristorante 1351-D Kelly Lake Rd, Greater Sudbury verdicchio.ca

BULGARIA

LUXURY TRADE: Liliya Nedeva, Managing Director. 1756 Sofia Hotnishki Vodopad St. 28P Bulgaria

tel: +359899690909

🇺🇸 USA

Esber Beverages

2217 Bolivar Rd SW, Canton, OHIO 44706, United States

https://www.esberbeverage.com

PORTAGE COUNTRY CLUB AKRON, OHIO

ALLIANCE COUNTRY CLUB ALLIANCE, OHIO

GUISEPPES WINE CELLAR AMHERST, OHIO

ROSS WINE & LIQUOR BEREA, OHIO

KIBBEE’S CARRYOUT BLUFFTON, OHIO

NATHAN’S PATIO BAR & GRILL CANTON, OHIO

BUEHLERS FOOD MARKET CANTON

FISHERS FOODS CANTON

FROMAGE DU MONDE CANTON

FRONIMOS PUB CANTON

GLENMOOR COUNTRY CLUB CANTON

ONESTO CANTON

TOP SHELF LIQUOR CANTON

COUNTRY FRESH FARM MARKET CINCINNATI, OHIO

HOME BUYS CINCINNATI

JUNGLE JIMS CINCINNATI

WARREN VILLAGE BEVERAGE CLEVELAND

WINE CONNECTION COLUMBIANA

DOROTHY LANE MARKET DAYTON

HOME BUYS DAYTON

BUEHLERS FOOD MARKET #10 DOVER

COUNTRY CLUB @ MUIRFIELD DUBLIN

ELYRIA LIQUOR & BEVERAGE ELYRIA

BUEHLERS #17 GALION

OOGIES PIZZA GIBSONBURG

LAKES BEVERAGE GREEN AKRON

NOONANS HAMILTON

CONGRESS LAKE CLUB HARTVILLE

LAGRANGE IGA FOODLINER LAGRANGE

RAGS WINE & BEVERAGE LORAIN

SCRATCH LOUISVILLE

MINI MART MANSFIELD

BUEHLERS FOOD MARKET #15 MASSILLON, OHIO

KOZMO’S GRILLE MASSILLON

SHADY HOLLOW COUNTRY CLUB MASSILLON

BUEHLERS FOOD MARKET #05 MEDINA

IS A BRAND OWNED BY CONDOR HOLDINGS CORP.
A COMPANY OF DONALD J.P. ZIRALDO

12th February, 2021

BREAKING NEWS

Tiny glass beads from Venice made their way to Alaska decades before Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the new world.

The beads, the color and size of a Prosecco grape, were uncovered in a house pit in Punyik Point, a seasonal Inuit camp near the Continental Divide in Alaska’s Brooks Range.

Ten blue glass beads crafted in Venice in the mid-to-late fifteenth century have been found at three different pre-Columbian sites in northern Alaska. Michael Kunz of the University of Alaska Museum of the North and Robin Mills of the Bureau of Land Management suggest that the beads were traded overland along the Silk Road, through Siberia, and across the Bering Strait into Alaska. Punyik Point, one of the sites where the beads were recovered, is situated along an ancient trade route and was used as a seasonal camp by Inuit peoples. The beads were found with metal artifacts, including a copper bracelet and bangle, and twine that was mass-spectrometry carbon dated to the 1400s.

Charcoal and caribou bones found at the three sites were also dated to the fifteenth century. In all, the artifacts are thought to have traveled about 10,500 miles, including crossing more than 50 miles of open ocean.

ZIRALDO BIANCO DI FAGAGNA
(PICOLIT)

TASTING NOTES

Honeycomb, praline, peanut brittle, dried apricot, dried mango and camomile tea, and that's just the nose! Sweet, satisfying, layered and complex, with a finish that is gorgeous, sweet, fruity, and loooong. This may cause you to change your after-dinner plans too! Enjoy with roasted nuts, biscotti, blue cheese, or conversation, or any combination thereof.

• Made in: Friuli, Italy

• By: Azienda Agricola Ziraldo

• Style: Lusciously Sweet Wine, Dessert Wine

• 13.0% Alcohol/Vol.

• Varietal: Picolit

• Sugar Content: 2 g/L

• Sweetness Descriptor: S - Sweet

STORY OF ZIRALDO PICOLIT

The story of my encounter with Picolit starts officially in 2004 when I was given a ‘Citidenza Honorario’ ( Honorary Citizenship) in Friuli , in the town of Fagagna where my mom and dad were both born in the Friuli region north east of Venice. I actually remember my uncle Batista pouring me some Picolit when I was a young boy visiting Friuli and making quite a fuss about it. Little did I know that later in life this would bring me back to Fagagna to plant a vineyard. 

At the ceremony, there were numerous dignitaries amongst them the President of the region Tesini who said "Donald, this is all very nice. However, you know that over 1200 men from this small community travelled abroad and helped build the great country of Canada. I think it would be appropriate if you came back to Friuli and did something here for your people." 

Following the ceremony I was invited to dinner in the restaurant in The Castello. Which is owned by Count Fabio Asquini. At the dinner, the Count came by to congratulate me and began to tell me about the history of his family and Picolit. He invited me to visit the archives in his family home the next day Picolit, a native, autocton variety was cultivated by the Romans. It became Friuli’s own variety and a symbol of the region. Its original name Picolitto, actually means 'very little' which illustrates the fact that due to genetic sterility of the flower cluster few berries actually pollinate. The low yield per vine is due to the tendency of the berries to ‘shatter’ during flowering, due to pollen sterility, often only yielding 10 to 20 berries per cluster. It requires the perfect site, with nutrient poor soils, south facing exposition to the sun and good ventilation.

The first official document that shows the name Picolit dates back to 1682. The first Picolit vineyard appears to have been planted by a woman, Pantasilia Capiferro, in Rocca Bernardo, (where I tasted a Picolit in 2000 made by Mario Zuliani that had won the coveted 'tre bicieri' Award.) Count Fabio Asquini di Fagagna is credited with meticulously cultivating Picolit in the mid 1700’s. He selected ideal sites , developed training systems and bottled the Picolit in delicate hand blown glass bottles made in Murano. The delicate wine were transported by donkey to Venice and then on to the Royal Courts of Austria, the Czars of Russia, Kings and Queens of Spain and England and to the Pope. All of this is documented in the book IL Picolit by Valerio Ros.

Author Burton Anderson wrote "by the mid-19th century, Picolit was undoubtedly Italy's most prestigious wine." It's praises were sung by celebrated Venetian playwright, Carlo Goldoni, who called it 'the delight of popes, cardinals and emperors.' 

Currently it can only be produced in the DOCG in the Colli Orientali del Friuli area of Friuli-Venezia-Julia. The DOCG limits yield to 40 quintals (22hl of wine) per hectare. There are only about 60 hectares planted. The berry is small, oval with a firm resistant skin and large pips. Budbreak is early while ripening is late which lends itself to good hang time. The grapes are picked, then left to dry in racks, a process known as "appassimento" which again reduces the production of wine, thus its name Picolit.

Luigi Veronelli stated that "Picolit was to Italy what Chateau d’Yquem is to France." It was Veronelli who suggested to me that I request a D.O.C. Communale designation for Fagagna because under current DOC regulations, the name Picolit cannot be used on the bottle of wine made in Fagagna. Fagagna happens to be where my parents both were born and where Picolit was born.

Picolit should be drunk alone in order to best savor its freshness and richness of flavor, typical of northern wines, as well as its sweetness and concentration, and the dried fruit aromas.

So after meeting with Count Asquini and chatting with my cousin Valdi and remembering President Tessini's words, I decided that I should plant Picolit in Fagagna to honour the memory of my mother and father and their birthplace. Valdi also shared with me that there is a road behind my family’s Azienda Agricola called Viniuol (small wine road) where Picolit was grown as a hedgerow supported by 'chiocks' along a south facing stone wall. So we decided to plant some Picolit vines in Fagagna.

We signed an agreement with the Count Fabio Asquini, oener of the lands around the Castello who is the great grandson of the Count who lives in the restored family home adjacent to the Castello. We planted 1000 vines on the hillside of the Castello for which the rent paid would be twelve bottles of the precious wine produced from the vineyard.

I did that because it harkened back to when my family were peasants in Fagagna and they paid their rent or stipend by giving a portion of the crop to the landlord.Another vineyard was planted on an adjacent hillside. We also planted some of the vines below the Castello in the original training system ( vignette tradizionale in photos ) illustrated in the photo, with me holding one of the cross arms, that was used by Count Asquini back in the 1700’s.

One small problem... due to the DOC regulations we are not allowed by law to call the wine Picolit because Fagagna is not in the official DOC region that lists Picolit as an authorized variety, which is in the Colli Orientali. Fagagna is in the Grave region which does not list Picolit as an authorized variety So following Veronelli’s advice I have researched the problem and with the assistance of the Mayor of Fagagna, I started the long process of requesting a declaration of a DOC Communale for Fagagna which would then allow me to put Picolit di Fagagna on the label. The current vintage will be a Vino da Tavola. The same nomenclature used by Peiro Antinori when he ran into the similar problem with his Tignanello which he could only call Vino da Tavola because it also contained unauthorized grape variety for the DOC he was located in.

As coincidence would have it I met the Minster of Agriculture Ziai when I was at Vinitaly in April, 2009 to receive the Grand Premio at Vinitaly on behalf of Inniskillin. I told him of the dilemma and he indicated he would do what he could to assist.

Well, after many years I must admit that I finally conceded defeat. Not something I have done many times in my life. However after many arduous e-mails, meetings and inquiries I came to the conclusion that even after my years of learning there is a time when one must compromise. So, I thought that instead of calling the wine by its rightful name Picolit, I would call it Dolce Di Fagagna. I even consulted with my dear friend Larry McQuire, one of the owners of Far Niente, in Napa, who make Dolce wine (www.farniente.com) just to be sure he was Ok with my adding Dolce to make my point. But it was to no avail, That name was also refused. The authorities finally agreed to let me name the wine Bianco di Fagagna. Not very creative but it does speak to the origin of the wine and the birthplace of Picolit, my beloved Fagagna.

The first vintage of Picolit from the vineyard was vinified in 2008. The grapes were harvested and then dried "appassimento" in wooden boxes, then fermented in oak barrels at my friend Giorgio Colutta’s winery in Manzano.

My dear friend Manlio Tonutti , Graphice Tonutti, in Fagagna, one of the best label printers in Europe is assisted me with the label concept and design while Valdi continues to tend the vineyard. So after many years, numerous trials and tribulations I am able to present the Picolit which I made in hounour of my mom, Irma and father Fiorello from their beloved town of Fagagne, the birthplace of Picolit.

The wines are currently available in Italy. Others from anywhere in the world interested in purchasing it, please contact me at donald@ziraldo.ca

Donald Ziraldo, Furlan; with Canadian skin and Italian blood.
 

Donald J. P. Ziraldo

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