The Schioppettino di Prepotto Producers’ Association, founded in 2002 to protect and promote the quality of this unique area, is working to revive a little-known but much-loved appellation for those who know it.
Schioppettino di Prepotto is a subzone of the Friuli Colli Orientali DOC and corresponds to a red and very spicy wine.
Many years after its founding, the Producers’ Association is renewed with a group of producers who have decided to take up the legacy of more than 20 years of history to relaunch an important challenge: to strengthen the Schioppettino di Prepotto brand.
The new Assembly, which met in recent days, elected the new Board of Directors, which in turn identified Riccardo Caliari (Spolert Winery) as president, Riccardo Polegato (La Viarte) as vice-president, Daniele Lenuzza (Vigna Lenuzza) as secretary, and Stefano Traverso (Vigna Traverso) and Michela Marinig (Marinig di Marinig Valerio) as advisors.
“Now we have a dream,” comments newly appointed president Riccardo Caliari. – the Schioppettino di Prepotto as the main wine produced by Prepotto wineries, which today, as is historically the case in Friuli, produce different wines from indigenous varieties without having a common focus. To achieve this we will work in parallel on the quality of the product, focusing on the elegant style that represents the wine and the territory, and on the strength of the brand in Italy and abroad. It will be a path that will last between 5 and 10 years and will require several human and economic resources the premises to succeed are all there.”
Schioppettino of Prepotto
The Schioppettino grape variety is an ancient native of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, whose origins date back to the Middle Ages. The name Schioppettino is said to derive from its ancient Friulian name, “Scopp,” which in turn can be traced to the crunching of its berries.
Also called (in the past) Ribolla Nera, today Schioppettino is one of Friuli’s best-known indigenous grapes. Despite its thousand-year history, by the early 1970s the vine was all but extinct due to diseases, first Oidium and then Phylloxera, even banned at one time.
Schioppettino’s historic growing area is Prepotto, in the province of Udine, in that Judrio Valley where it has always been intensely cultivated. And it is the terroir of this small area that gives the wine an extraordinary aromatic intensity and the characteristic spicy note of black pepper.
In 2008, Schioppettino grown in Prepotto gained recognition as its own cru: the Schioppettino di Prepotto subzone of the Friuli Colli Orientali DOC.
