Tenuta Villanova Descriptions

Description 1 of 1

Tenuta Villanova’s 500-year history seems brief in comparison with the enthralling story of its soil, which began 100 million years ago. At that time, the Friulian flatlands were part of a vast shallow sea that reached the Alps. Then ten million years ago, the entire region underwent an uplift. The sediment rose out of the water to become what are now the Collio hills, where layers of chalk and clay marl alternate with sandstone (calcified sand).Closer to the present day, about one million years ago, the generally loose-packed and occasionally gravelly, permeable soil on the banks of the river Isonzo began to take shape from what at the time was a vast marshy plain. In the Quaternary era, the area was covered by ice that shaped the morainic hill country of mid and upper Friuli, carrying enormous quantities of gravel and sand towards the sea. The soil types and climate of the Collio and Isonzo DOC zones make them particularly suitable for viticulture. Today, Tenuta Villanova’s vineyards – the mansi, or “hides” of land – lie in both the Collio and the Isonzo zones. And for each vineyard, the estate has selected the most suitable variety of grape so that fruit of excellent quality is obtained everywhere. – Description from jay1395

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