Conte Brandolini d'Adda Merlot Stomo 2018

Vistorta is a small “borgo” within an agricultural estate in the heart of Western Friuli, which has belonged to the Brandolini family since 1780. Since the 2nd Century A.D. two Roman capitals define the property’s boundaries and are still testimony to Vistorta’s agricultural origins today. In 1800 Guido Brandolini, after graduating from Padua University, retired to Vistorta and transformed it into a modern and efficient farm estate, with a foresight and investment which is surprising even today. The villa, the Barchessa (open barn) and the adjoining farm houses are testimony to a very up-to-date conception of farming activity: the fame of its grapes, of its cellars and the quality of its renowned wines go well beyond regional boundaries. The present day Vistorta estate, which cultivates 220 hectares of land around the villa, has been managed by Brandino Brandolini d’Adda since 1980. A graduate in Agricultural science at the Texas A. & M. University, and following a first wine-making experience in another family-owned estate, Chateau Greysac in Bordeaux, Brandino planned a renovation of the Vistorta estate following the French model, that is by concentrating on one great red wine. The planting of new grape varieties was begun with the collaboration of Georges Pauli, (wine maker at the Chateau Gruaud Larose) at the end of the 1980s, integrating them with the existing varieties and in so doing, producing very high quality grapes, the decision to use Merlot, a variety originating in Bordeaux and brought to Friuli a century ago, was not made by chance, and It was perfectly suited to the Vistorta “terroir”.