The name Aquilis (pronounced Awk-we-leese) refers to the city of Aquileia in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, famous for its Roman mosaics.

VINTAGE
2016

APPELLATION
Friuli Aquileia DOC

AREA
Cervignano del Friuli

GRAPES
Two different clones of Sauvignon Blanc: the Italian R3 and the French Entav 108

TASTING DESCRIPTORS
Aquilis is pale straw yellow that has vibrant, green highlights. The nose shows prominent floral and herbal notes mixed with scents of fresh elderberry, papaya, and passion fruit, which are mingled with hints of mint. The palate is fresh and full, as well as well balanced with a silky texture. It reveals mouthwatering lemon meringue and crushed chalk minerals, leading to a long and refreshing finish.

VINEYARDS
Friuli Aquileia DOC exhibits two distinct characteristics: in the north there is an average clay structure and towards Grado Lagoon a more pebbly and sandy area appears. An artificial aquifer grants a continuous flow of water, salt, and mineral substances to the area's vineyards. Our Molin di Ponte vineyard sources the grapes for Aquilis. Here there is a nine-hectares (22 acres) lot of 108 French Clone (#jo06); however, only a two-hectare (five acres) area is used for Aquilis. Within this lot, there are different training systems and soils employed to produce what is called our premier Cru of Sauvignon. Lot #jo06 also has two rows of vines for R3 Italian clone that are utilized for making this wine. In a separate 3.5-hectare vineyard (#mu05), there are another 1.5 hectares (3.7 acres) dedicated to Aquilis. Lastly, there is lot #jo16 – a 4.6-hectare are, where 2.5 hectares are used for this wine.

WINEMAKER'S NOTES
"What makes this wine special is how we make five to six distinctly separate styles of wine, all of which are from hand-picked grapes. When blended – each clone ferments separately with 80% in steel and 20% in oak – the produce the highest quality wine in Friuli. The vats that are not approved for Aquilis are blended into a batch of our Sauvignon Blanc. This is why each vineyard and clone is produced separately. Though we use three different vineyards, only the top performer of each of the three vineyards can produce this world-class white wine. And this is the most exciting part of my job as winemaker: the unpredictability. Each harvest is different from one another, and each vintage always brings something new to discover." – Winemaker, Marco Rabino

SERVING TEMPERATURE
50°F- 54°F

ALCOHOL LEVEL
13.5%

BOTTLE SIZE
750 mL