2021 Luisa Sauvignon, Isonzo del Friuli DOC

He started off with a small, manageable five-hectare plot of land, but over the years, the estate has grown to over 120 hectares, making it one of the largest vineyards in the region.

The most meaningful changes to the winemaking operation began under Delciso Luisa, Francesco’s grandson. It was Delcisco who spearheaded the estate’s expansion in the 1970s, taking the total hectares from 30 to 120. He also built an entirely new winery in the late 1980s to increase production with the help of stainless steel fermentation tanks.

Today, the estate is run by brothers Davide and Michele. The brothers both bring their unique skills and experience to the Luisa family brand. Davide, a trained agronomist, oversees vineyard management, and Michele is Tenuta Luisa’s winemaker. Under the brothers’ leadership, the vineyard has changed its grape growing strategy to prioritize a lower yield per acre in order to produce a more premium product. 

Luisa Family Wines

Conversations around Tenuta Luisa’s wines frequently center around the family’s unique vineyard soils, which are a mix of aluminum and iron. The soil is referred to as “terra rossa,” and its red layers are excellent at capturing the sun’s heat and using it to moderate the temperatures of the vines.

The Luisa family vineyards sit on the same latitude as Burgundy and Oregon’s Willamette Valley, and this prime location allows them to work with a number of grapes, including a few of Friuli’s rare native grapes.

The current lineup of white wines includes Malvasia Bianca, Chardonnay, Pinot Bianco, Pinot Gris, Sauvignon, and Traminer Aromatico. And, on the red side: Pinot Nero, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon. 

The family also works with four of Fruili’s most popular native grape varieties: 

• Friulano – A light to medium-bodied white wine with aromas of almonds, crisp apple, and white flowers. 
• Ribolla Gialla – This age-worthy white wine is medium-bodied, acidic, and ripe with citrus and a defined minerality.
• Refosco – A tannic red wine with complex notes of dried red fruits, herbs, and Alpine flowers.
• Verduzzo – These grapes produce a dry, light-bodied white wine with floral and citrus notes.

Across its various bottlings, Tenuta Luisa produces roughly 350,000 bottles of wine a year from their mineral-rich vineyards.

The first vintage of the Luisa Sauvignon was produced in 1980, and forty or so years on, the winery now produces 42,000 bottles each vintage or about 3,500 cases. 

Why are White Wines from Friuli so Popular? 

Tenuta Luisa is located in Italy’s ever-popular Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, within a small DOC called Friuli Isonzo. 

The vineyards of Friuli are planted on everything from gentle hilly slopes to vast open plains and steep mountains. The grapes grown near the cold Alps have tremendous acidity and are incredibly refreshing. As you travel south across Friuli, you enter the slightly warmer climes of the Adriatic Sea and its Mediterranean influences. Italy’s Friuli region has been called one of the world’s best wine regions most people have never heard of, and, in the same breath, Italy’s best region for white wine. The wines from Friuli tend to fly under the radar in many wine circles, but those who love these white wines can wax on about the attributes of Ribolla Gialla, Friulano, the DOC’s Sauvignon Blanc like there’s no tomorrow. In other words, wine connoisseurs who love this region really love this region.