NoseThe nose is intense with juicy notes of citrusfruits and apple, together with sweet notes of crystalized honey and lemonmeringue. honeylemonorange-blossom
FlavorOn the palate it is rich, fresh, medium to full bodied, with a mineraland flavorful finish.
Friuli Venezia Giulia At a Glance
Region NameFriuli Venezia Giulia
In Friuli Venezia Giulia, most of the best vineyards are located in the southeastern part of the region facing Alpine foothills’ slopes. Here the vines benefit from direct sunlight and a complex climatic intersection of the warm Mediterranean influence of the Adriatic Sea coupled with the cooling breezes from the Julian Alps.
Score: 93Vintage 2020James SucklingLots of flinty, crushed-stone and matchstick character. Full-bodied with a very tight palate and linear texture. It’s compact and very tight. Drink or hold.Shelf TalkerFull Page Review
Score: 91Vintage 2020Wine SpectatorA vibrant, medium-bodied white, with macerated raspberry and strawberry fruit flavors set on a plushly creamy texture. Aromatic and finely meshed, with a spine of citrus acidity and accents of heather, almond blossoms and mineral that linger on the mouthwatering finish. Drink now through 2027. 800 cases made, 100 cases imported.Shelf TalkerFull Page Review
Score: 90Vintage 2020Vinous MediaThe 2020 Chardonnay Ciampagnis is seductively rich, enticing with a whiff of confectionary spice and custard that gives way to lime-infused peaches. This is round and opulent in feel, with a soothing wave of ripe orchard fruits contrasted by juicy acids. The 2020 comes across as dense yet giving at this stage, needing time to develop further depths. It finishes fresh and medium in length, leaving a slight herbal twang.Shelf TalkerFull Page Review
Score: 91Vintage 2019Vinous MediaThe 2019 Chardonnay Ciampagnis is a gentle giant, as sweet spice and white flowers complement musky apple and pear. Its silky textures communicate elegance just as a zesty bump of nervous acids and tart orchard fruits add a reverberation of tension. The 2019 turns smoky through the finale, leaving ginger-tinged apricot, zests of lime and the slightest nuance of butterscotch to linger. I love the contrasts here, yet a short stay in the cellar is advised to allow its aromatics to fully blossom.Shelf TalkerFull Page Review
Score: 95Vintage 2018James SucklingAromas of cooked apple, lemon and crushed stones with some aniseed and licorice. Full- bodied and tight with a powerful structure and mouth feel and a bitter lemon and aniseed finish. Unique. Drink or holdShelf TalkerFull Page Review
Score: 94Vintage 2018Wine AdvocateThe Vie di Romans 2018 Friuli Isonzo Chardonnay Ciampagnis is beautifully contoured with aromas of peach, melon, honey and passion fruit. The bouquet is perfumed and bright, driving a long finish and silky consistency. Like most of the other whites in this portfolio, it ages on the lees (for nine months, in this case). Instead of oak, it completes this process in stainless steel for an anaerobic environment that serves to capture those direct and linear aromas. The wine concludes with a hint of dusty mineral or crushed stone that ties it to one of the most prominent characteristics of Friuli Venezia Giulia.Shelf TalkerFull Page Review
Score: 90Vintage 2018Wine SpectatorSoft, citrus peel acidity is layered with flavors of baked pear and Meyer lemon preserves in this round, light- to medium-bodied white. A tang of salty mineral and a hint of crushed hazelnut linger on the well-cut finish. Drink now through 2025. 3,500 cases made, 450 cases importedShelf TalkerFull Page Review
Score: 90Vintage 2018Vinous MediaThe 2018 Chardonnay Ciampagnis is a wine of contrasts, at once spicy, exotic, sweet and savory. Tropical citrus opens the stage to nectarine and apricot, with notes of candied ginger, white smoke and lifting florals. It’s silky, fleshy and deep, mixing ripe apple and kiwi with zesty green citrus and hints of pineapple. The length here is admirable, swaying from the fruity expression on the nose and palate, and instead showing salty minerals that linger on and on. High energy, full of character and simply gorgeous.Shelf TalkerFull Page Review
Score: 94Vintage 2017Wine AdvocateThe Vie di Romans 2017 Friuli Isonzo Chardonnay Vie di Romans opens to a saturated off-gold color with abundant layers of apricot, pear and cantaloup melon. This hot-vintage Chardonnay, aged on the lees for 10 months in French oak, is rich and opulent sporting a full frame and enriched texture. You could pair this beauty with buttered lobster or most dishes involving veal or pork given the power and the intensity of the mouthfeel. Subtle mineral notes frame the rich fruit. Production is 57,044 bottles.Shelf TalkerFull Page Review
Score: 93Vintage 2017Wine AdvocateA production of exactly 43,967 bottles, the Vie di Romans 2017 Friuli Isonzo Chardonnay Ciampagnis sources its fruit from a 7.8-hectare site located just above sea level at 32 meters in altitude. This is the estate's unoaked Chardonnay that remains on the lees for nine months in steel vats. Despite those low-altitude elevations, this wine defies the heat of the vintage with ample freshness and a crisp, linear approach. The wine's intensity comes from the warmth and the sun-kissed temperatures of the vintage that are absorbed so nicely by this variety.Shelf TalkerFull Page Review
Score: 88Vintage 2017Vinous MediaBright yellow-gold. Smoky, spice-accented nose hints at poached banana, yellow melon, and honey, with a hint of chamomile in the background. Fleshy and smooth on the palate, offering slightly chunky orchard and spice fruit flavors. Finishes a little diffuse, but with decent length.Shelf TalkerFull Page Review
Score: 93Vintage 2016Wine AdvocateThe 2016 Friuli Isonzo Rive Alte Chardonnay Ciampagnis is lean in structure but very citrusy, with ample notes of passion fruit and grapefruit. Most importantly, it has an incredibly snappy style that is just radioactive with energy. This is a memorable unoaked Chardonnay, worthy of a party with hors d'oeuvres of oysters, shrimp and crostini with pâté. Production is 43,865 bottles.Shelf TalkerFull Page Review