Villa Job 'Untitled'
Alessandro & Lavinia are definitely one of my favorite wine couples of all time - they are just so filled with love, laughter and gioia di vivere (maybe more familiar in french - joie de vivre).
Always quick with a hug and smile! And damn do they make great wine!!
They were working in Milan when they met. Alessandro grew up coming to Friuli - fond memories of running between the vines and spending time with his grandparents. When the family property was passed on to Alessandro, they made the bold decision to leave the “daily grind” behind them. Feeling a deep connection to the land and the old vines, they began to restore the family winery. Close to the border of Slovenia & Hungary, vineyards were planted with indigenous varietals like Ribolla Gialla, Tocai, Refosco, Schioppettino plus Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc. And the vines were happy - wild and a bit overgrown. Research, conversations with the old farmers and their own seeking led them to the teachings of Masanobu Fukuoka who’s ‘do-nothing’ farming mantra has been proven all over the world _ seriously, check it out - so cool.
‘Untitled’s’ varietal is a grape with plenty of drama (politically/ appellationally/ geographically). Fruilano is also known as Tokai, Tokaj, Sipon, Furmint, Mosler, Moslavac - all depending on the region. So when Hungary filed claim with the E.U. to have exclusive access to the name Tokai or Tokaj, it meant all the other regions using the grape would no longer be able to call it Tokai and would have to rename (Friulano, Sipon, Moslavac), skirt the rules (Jakot), or in the case of Villa Job, call it ‘Untitled’ (now that’s a statement, right?).
Wild and exuberant in the best possible way, this bottle screams YUMMMMMM!! drink more!! (I swear it does - I heard it!) plus the wine and the label are so fun you’ll wish you’d snagged the magnum
With a few (2 to 3) days of skin contact, fermentation happens in concrete and the resulting juice is aged in old barrique. This skin contact brings spices, herbs, and citrus! White pepper, sage, and ripe citrus zest. There’s great acidity with tannic structure remarkable for a white wine - this wine is complex, balanced and well, like I said - YUMMMMMM! This is small production at its finest - attention to every detail. Incredible, fun, joy-filled people honoring the planet and making wine.
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Curious about Masanobu Fukuoka and do-nothing/ no tilling farming? Feel free to use the links below for more info or watch Kiss the Ground - a great (and not boring) way to get educated about the common practice of tilling.
A short answer is that Fukuoka believed that “People often think, in their arrogance and ignorance, that nature needs their assistance to carry on. Well, the truth is that nature actually does much better without such “help” from humans!”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masanobu_Fukuoka
https://www.motherearthnews.com/nature-and-environment/masanobu-fukuoka-zmaz82jazgoe