Denis Montanar
Prepotto, Italy (Friuli)
Vigna Lenuzza sits in Prepotto, a narrow valley village in the Colli Orientali del Friuli, pressed right up against the Slovenian border — and the spiritual home of Schioppettino. This is the village that saved the grape from extinction after phylloxera, and it remains the only place on earth that can put "Schioppettino di Prepotto" on a label. For the Lenuzza family, it's the flagship: dark, peppery, and unmistakably local.
The winery is a true family act. Daniele Lenuzza makes the wine — restless, creative, always experimenting; his wife Tanika, runs the business and exports; and father Gianpaolo keeps the family and the land steady. Daniele and Tanika's two young children are the quality control team and tasked with keeping everyone smiling and laughing. The farming has always been organic — certified, but as they put it, organic by heart, because they've simply never worked any other way. The cellar runs on solar power, water is conserved, materials are reused, and each year the family hosts winemaking students to pass the craft along.
Alongside Schioppettino come the Friulian classics — Friulano and Sauvignon Blanc, both crisp and mineral driven white wines and wonderfully herby and unmistakably Friulian reds from Merlot, Cabernet Franc, & Cabernet Sauvignon.
IMPORTED SELECTIONS
Cabernet
"Indigenously" Friulano
Merlot
Ribolla Gialla
Sauvignon Blanc
Schioppettino di Prepotto