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The land

Among the eastern hills of Friuli

Cialla is a small valley surrounded by woods with chestnut, oak and wild cherry trees

Roncs, in the dialect of Friuli, means vinery cultivated hills.

Cialla is a small valley facing from North-East to South-West, surrounded by woods with chestnut, oak and wild cherry trees, in the d.o.c. (controlled wine) Colli Orientali del Friuli area, and it is officially recognised – with a Ministerial Decree dated 30.10.95 – as cru CIALLA only for the cultivation of native vines from Friuli (white wines: Verduzzo, Picolit and Ribolla Gialla; red wines: Refosco dal Peduncolo rosso and Schioppettino) and the production of vintage wines.

Cialla has remained pristine because it is a bit distant from other settlements, as it was in ancient times when it was called Cela. Cela, in the Slavic language that was spoken there, means "Riviera"; it was given this name because it had a uniquely beautiful micro-climate that even now olives grow there. The steep terraces, carved out of the hills, perfectly located in terms of their aspect viticulture, go back to the times of the Patriarchate of Aquileia and the Republic of Venice, and according to deeply rooted local folklore, they were developed by Turkish prisoners. To confirm that Cialla wines were already appreciated back then, there are documents dating back to 1496 that state that the Honourable Cathedral Chapterhouse of Cividale used to purchase some of this wine every year.

In 1970 our family-run winery was founded.
The passion of Paolo and Dina Rapuzzi now continues with their sons Pierpaolo and Ivan whose aim is to give value to the ancient native grape varieties of Friuli in accordance with atheir philosophy of selective production of extremely high quality wines.

In 1976 Paolo and Dina won the prestigious "Risit d'Aur" (Golden Vine) award for having saved the Schioppettino variety from disappearing.
The vineyards were planted on eocene marl soil – in rows in compliance with distances and orientations that are ideal for hillside viticulture.

The pruning is carried out with extreme care and the fungicide treatments are controlled by a computerized microclimatic control unit that allows minimum interventions with non-polluting products. The grapes obtained this way, as the result of a limited yield imposed by cru Cialla rules, are selectively harvested at the right time and with the maximum amount of care to obtain a qualitatively perfect product. Vinification is carried out naturally in line with the philosophy of not forcing the transformation and aging phases, which always privileges the "typicity" given to cru wine.

The maturing of the wines in oak barrels with a personalised dosage of wood and toasted oak staves, makes Ronchi di Cialla wines among the highest quality Italian wines, and absolutely the first white wines (1977) to use this this old natural wine stabilisation process of ageing in oak barrels.

Subsequently the wines are bottled; the bottles – which are numbered in sequence – are left to mature in the darkness of our wine cellars until, thanks to long and undisturbed meditation, they develop fully. It is up to the sensitivity and experience of the producers to look after them during their aging, releasing them at the perfect moment, from which they will increasingly develop the personality and typicity of cru Cialla over the years.