Fondazione De Claricini Dornpacher

The vineyards extend around the Venetian villa De Claricini in the municipality of Moimacco, 1 km from Cividale del Friuli, in a flat area 121 metres above sea level. To the east, the border with Slovenia is 11 kilometres away. To the north, the rolling hills of Cividale dominated by the Mataiur prelude to the Julian Alps.
The vineyards of Claricini are made up of north/south oriented rows of vines 270 centimetres apart. On the row the vines are 80 centimetres apart. With pruning, only one branch per vine is left. The bunches of grapes are grown about 100 centimetres above the ground.

The wine we produce is the result of a great work in the vineyard aimed at bringing the plants to the conditions of nature. We are at the side of the vines so that they can defend themselves, finding in the soil everything they need to grow. Over time the vineyard will have a new look that will reflect the complexity of natural systems, a new aesthetic: the aesthetics of life.
It all begins with the first spring tepors when the vine ends its winter hibernation and a new cycle begins with a cry of sap weeping from the shoots. From there the buds soon swell and the first leaves appear and soon afterwards the bunches of grapes too.
In summer the shoots and leaves increase and the bunches of grapes grow; the green berries soon become "peppercorns" and then real fruits which then become coloured towards the end of summer.
At the beginning of autumn the bunches change colour and the green becomes increasingly golden yellow in white grapes and blue-violet in red grapes. This is one of the most delicate moments of production. It is important to check and wait for the right moment to start the harvest. The right degree of ripeness is detected by frequent checks in the vineyard on the colour of the bunches, tasting some grapes here and there and then carrying out an analytical determination on a representative sample of the variety. Every year the harvesting ritual is carried out, with care and experience only the best grapes are selected and harvested by hand.

Towards the end of November, when the vines have already lost their leaves and have entered a quiescent phase, the pruning operation begins. With this operation the shoots that have already fruited are cut to make room for the new shoots that will bear fruit in the following year.
The pruning work continues for a long period and towards the end of winter the new shoots are manually bent and fixed to the supporting wires. This is an operation that is the result of tradition that wants the vine together with its "brace" consisting of poles and iron wires that allow the plant to maintain an upright position with the bunches in the sun and wind.