WORLD PIGNOLO DAY 2024

There is a distinct possibility that Pignolo would have met the same sad fate as innumerable Italian native varieties, if it had not been saved from extinction in the early 1970s thanks to cuttings taken from vines on the hill of Rosazzo, in the province of Udine. (The complete story of the rediscovery can be found in Ben Little’s book, cited below)

Official recognition of the variety by the Regione di Friuli Venezia Giulia in 1978 opened the way to further planting, but it was not until 1995 that Pignolo was included in the disciplinare of the Colli Orientali del Friuli. The wine caused a great stir in critical circles of the period and there was a feeling in the air that Pignolo would become the flagship red which was missing from the region that had built its reputation on white wines. However, while its status as a heritage wine is assured, the critical mass necessary for Pignolo to make a significant commercial impact has never been achieved.

Today, the majority of the 60 or so producers who make Pignolo grow less than one hectare of the variety. It is this rarity which inspired the title of Ben Little’s impeccably researched 432-page Pignolo, Cultivating the Invisible. The book, published in 2021, has given the wine international exposure and the author’s efforts in support of Pignolo have been instrumental in the creation of the newly founded Associazione del Pignolo del Friuli Venezia Giulia, which promises a much less invisible future for the wine.

Pignolo is a late ripening variety with low yields, small bunches, and small berries. The wines are high in tannin and acidity and potentially in alcohol, (especially if grapes are picked late and/or dried) with a distinctive aromatic signature of dark berry fruit with an earthiness in the background that comes from the wines phenolic character.

Most of the wine comes from the hills of Pignolo’s native Colli Orientali, however there are also small but significant productions in Collio, Friuli Isonzo, Friuli Aquileia and Friuli Grave.

A minimum of three years ageing is obligatory to qualify for the DOP Friuli Colli Orientali (four years for the Riserva wines from the Rosazzo sub-zone). Pignolo has a prodigious capacity for evolution, and I have the sensation that many wines only begin to peak at eight to ten years (which might mean ten years in barrel).

Clearly with this profile, Pignolo is not an immediate wine, it asks to be engaged with, but it is one of those which can set your pulse racing, as only great wines can.