The Schiopetto family has been in the wine business for three generations. Giorgio Schiopetto, who owned Ai Pompieri, a famous old inn in Udine, passed on to his son Mario his love of good wines, which was to bring him renown as the founding father of modern wine-making in the Friuli region. Before turning to wine making, Mario travelled far and wide in Europe in search of quality wines in the famed German and French wine cellars.
And it was German technology blended with French finesse that enabled him to realize his dream. During his travels abroad Mario learned the art and refined methods of making excellent wines. But skill and know-how, even when applied with passion, are not always enough. They have to be painstakingly adapted to a different environment and climate - a different region with a unique terrain like that of the Collio Goriziano area. Self-taught and gifted with exceptional intuition, Mario Schiopetto launched into the wine business in 1965 when he rented from the clergy in Gorizia an old company that he later purchased in 1989. He promptly converted it into a shining example of simplicity, technology and sensitivity. Here he enhanced and developed the know-how and skills he had acquired during his travels abroad, invaluable experience that he passed down to his children Maria Angela, Carlo and Giorgio, who successfully run the company today.
Bottling wine since 1964, Mario Schiopetto excels in his craft, producing wines—whites, in particular—that brought the northeastern region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia into the limelight of Italy's burgeoning wine scene. His inspiration has been such that his three children have joined his impassioned efforts in making this estate one of the area's, if not one of Italy's, best wineries. In the process he has established quite an impressive track record, especially considering that until about 20 years ago, most of the area’s grape growers sold off their grapes in bulk to cooperative wineries. Fruili's eastern zones of Collio and Colli Orientali source 30 hectares of grapes for Schiopetto's wines, amounting to an approximate annual production of 230,000 bottles. Regardless the trade, true talent lies in the ability to apply finely honed skills without allowing the techniques to become apparent. As one of the founding fathers of modern winemaking in Friuli, Schiopetto is a master of the application of viticultural and oenological science. His long-standing objective has been to achieve the purest possible transformation of grape variety into wine. Until very recently, this has entailed production without the use of barriques. Then, just a few years ago, Schiopetto branched out into a line of lightly oaked wines—just for the intellectual challenge of it. While still in the process of refining his touch on this new style, these wines brim with all the class characteristic of the Schiopetto estate.
