Ronco Blanchis· Collio
About the domain.
Ronco Blanchis is a white-wine house and nothing else, eight hectares of ponca in the Collio hills near Cormons, four grapes, no reds, no compromise. Lorenzo Pallanti runs it from a modest cellar, the second generation, and vinifies everything in stainless steel with barely a touch of oak, ten percent at most, and only for the Chardonnay.
The Sauvignon Blanc defines the place. On ponca it takes on a mineral cast that sets it apart from both the Loire and New Zealand, citrus and boxwood, yes, but underneath, wet stone and a weight that comes from the soil rather than the cellar. It tastes of somewhere specific, which is all I ask of a white.
The Pinot Grigio is lean and saline, built for shellfish. The Friulano, from 1985 vines, has the almond-and-herb signature old Collio vines give. The Chardonnay is deliberately understated. Modest quantities across the board, made for programmes that value typicity over volume.
Lifted, fine.
Collio whites in their lifted, transparent register. Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Friulano and Chardonnay all show precision and length.
Precise, mineral.
A textbook Collio vintage. Whites with citrus drive, herbal lift, and the stony grip the ponca gives.
Taut, clean.
A cooler year producing tightly wound, structured whites built for slow drinking and by-the-glass placements with patience.