FLAIBANI

THE REAL PINOT GRIGIO IS FLAIBANI

Pino Flaibani is a story-teller. This is not surprising since he started his career in Milan as a newspaperman. In the 1970’s he moved his family to Friuli where he settled and planted 5 hectares of vineyards.

He makes one very special wine whose story needs to be told. It is a story about preserving the traditions of “blush” style Pinot Grigio in Friuli. Traditional Pinot Grigio was left in contact with its skins for the first few hours of fermentation giving it a light peach colour. Flaibani uses this traditional process.

Beware – this is not a story about modernization or commercialization. It is a story about passion, tradition, and hand-making a product in small quantities at the highest quality level. The main character in the story is not the colourless, flavourless, and watery commercial Pinot Grigio that dominates the North American market. It is a hand-crafted wine of which only 1,300 bottles are made a year.

The story begins in the steep terraced hill-top vineyards of the family’s estate. The vineyards are farmed with an eye to sustainability with only natural fertilizers used and the winery is working with the local university to reduce its chemical inputs to zero. The grapes are hand-harvested only during the coolest hours of the day to preserve the freshness and aromas of the wine. They are pressed using an old wooden basket press. The grapes are then left with their skins for a few hours before being placed in temperature-controlled stainless steel for fermentation. There is no malolactic fermentation. This wine is so special that in Friuli – when referring to a Pinot Grigio blush wine – one would simply refer to it as a “Flaibani”.