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Bressan
Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy10 wines4.1 avg
721
Fulvio Bressan's Farra d'Isonzo estate - one of Friuli's oldest families, indigenous varieties, dry Verduzzo as a provocative signature, and wines that age for a decade in wood before bottling.
The Bressan family has farmed in Farra d'Isonzo, near Gorizia in Friuli, since 1726. The estate is now run by Fulvio Bressan, who took over from his father Nereo. The vineyards span both Isonzo DOC and Collio DOC - lower gravelly alluvial plains near the Isonzo river alongside hillside parcels with ponca (calcareous marl). A broader geological register than the pure-ponca Oslavia producers.
Around twenty to twenty-four hectares (roughly twenty under vine), farmed traditionally and without herbicides. Fulvio's commitment is to Friulian indigenous grapes that most of the region has either abandoned or reserved for sweet production: Verduzzo Friulano, Schioppettino (Ribolla Nera), Pignolo, Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso, plus Friulano and Ribolla Gialla. The centrepiece is the Verduzzo - almost every other producer in Friuli uses this grape for off-dry or sweet wine (Ramandolo DOCG and similar), but Bressan vinifies it completely dry, producing one of the most distinctive white wines in Italian natural wine.
In the cellar: long maceration for whites and reds alike, indigenous yeasts, aging in large Slavonian botti for extended periods - some wines spend five to ten years in wood before bottling, then further years in bottle before release. Current releases can be a decade or more behind the vintage. Sulphur additions are minimal. The approach is closer to nineteenth-century Friulian practice than to anything modern.
Key wines: Verduzzo (dry - their signature), Schioppettino, Pignolo, Carat (a white blend, typically Friulano-based), and Nereo (a tribute cuvée to Fulvio's father).
The wines are brilliant. Fulvio himself is something else. In 2013 he posted a racist tirade on Facebook targeting Italy's first black government minister, Cécile Kyenge, using slurs that left no room for misinterpretation. The backlash was severe - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate announced it would no longer review Bressan wines, importers dropped the estate, and a London restaurateur smashed his stock of Bressan bottles on the pavement outside his restaurant. Fulvio's response was to keep posting. The fascist and racist tendencies were not new or isolated; they are part of a pattern that predates and continues past the 2013 incident.
The contradiction between the person and the work is real. The wines are among the most singular in Friuli - the dry Verduzzo alone is worth serious attention. Whether that is enough to outweigh the person making them is a question each drinker answers for themselves.
