Vinitaly • International_wine - Orchidea room, Palaexpo, entrance A1 (level -1)
WARNING: IN ORDER TO ATTEND THIS TASTING, BEFORE BUYING THE TICKET, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE AN ENTRY PASS FOR THE EXHIBITION VINITALY 2023 VALID FOR THE DAY IN WHICH THE TASTING TAKES PLACE.
Indigenous and International varieties of grape in the Istrian region.
Wine list
Event languages: Italiano, English
How to participate: Paid event
Moreno Degrassi is one of the most important winemakers of the Istrian wine scene, who produces and nurtures a variety of wines on his estate, located in the extreme northwest of Istria - in Bašanija near Savudrija. Although the Degrassi family has a longer winemaking and viticultural tradition, the Degrassi winery officially began its operations in 1996. That year, Moreno Degrassi took over the vineyards from the local combine and the very next year, it went on the market with 50,000 bottles.
What distinguishes this top winemaker is his love for wine, experience, hard work, calmness, patience, dedication to tradition, modesty, self-effacement, but also a tendency to research. He likes variety in wine, and his coupages are widely known and appreciated, which is why he is often called the 'king of coupages'.
His vineyards cover 25 hectares and are located in 4 special locations - San Pellegrini, Ferne, Bomarchese and Conatarini, and he grows as many as 16 varieties on them. The seal of the Degrassi wine house is a rhombus that represents exactly those famous 4 positions. Terre bianche makes up 95% of the vineyard, while the other 5% is terre rosse.
Winery Degrassi, in addition to creating top wines, is oriented towards ecological production. Namely, although they have always tried to nurture the vineyards as much as possible in harmony with nature, since 2019 they have completely switched to an ecological approach, therefore with the first harvest in 2023 they will have the opportunity to display an ecological certificate.
In addition to the autochthonous Teran and Refošk varieties, Degrassi is also dedicated to Istrian Malvasia, which it bottles independently, in simpler and more complex varieties, and which is also an important part of its white cuvées. There is also White Muscat, a variety they are proud of in that region. But he is also proud of his wines, again both single-varietal and blended, from international varieties, and in his vineyards he also grows Viognier, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Petit Verdot, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. It offers white wines both fresh and aged, and gives red wines enough time to mature and be completely ready for the market. Moreno only sells wines that he would drink himself. He is also completely dedicated to the vineyard, without which there is no quality - he reduces yields, does the work by hand, constantly visits his top positions on the white soil of Bomarchese, Ferne and Contarini, as well as those on the red soil.
Moreno's wines delight domestic, but also numerous foreign evaluators, so in just one year he received five Decanter medals and those at the International Wine Challenge. The awards keep coming as proof of continuous quality and unique terroir, and some of them are - gold at the IWSC 2021 for his Malvazija Istarska Bomarchese Riserva wine, which also this year won a big gold medal at the Malvazija Festival "Noble taste of the Mediterranean'' in Portorož , Decanter's silver for Terre Bianche Cuvée Blanc 2018 and bronze for Teran Terre Rosse Riserva 2012, as well as a handful of awards in Vinistra. It should be mentioned that, as part of the Vinart annual achievement awards, Moreno Degrassi received a plaque of meritorious people who have contributed to Croatian winemaking with them.