The winemaking tradition in the area where “Rosazzo” DOCG wine, bearing the same name, is produced is of great importance and historical significance. Its synergy with the Abbey of Rosazzo, the religious, cultural, political and social centre located here, has also facilitated the documentation of wine production over the last thousand years.
Since ancient times, the Abbey’s leading role has positively influenced the development of these areas and is documented as “the enlargement of hilly agricultural areas has been directed towards crops that could best benefit from the unique climatic and soil conditions of these lands: the cultivation of both vineyards and orchards was prominently included in the wooded landscape of these hills.” (Gaspari 1976).
A document dated 20 January 1341 states that “The Patriarch Bertrando threatening some people with excommunication, who, after having occupied a wood belonging to the Abbey of Rosazzo, did not want to plant vines.” It is one of the documents that confirms the suitability of the territory for the cultivation of the “Rosazzo”. First the Augustinian monks, then the Benedictines and later the Domenicans made the wines of these lands their constant economic livelihood, making them so popular as to be served at the Emperor’s table.
The Serenissima Republic of Venice, which settled in Rosazzo in the summer of 1420, greatly contributed to making Friulian wines renowned, thanks to the many public, commercial and diplomatic relations it maintained and to the large consumption in the city, where banquets and celebrations were daily events.
Over the last thousand years, the Rosazzo territory and its wine production have been a benchmark for the entire winemaking sector of Friuli. Moreover, its cultivation has experienced extraordinary continuity mainly due to the presence of the Abbey of Rosazzo, just like other important centres of worship. At various times, the Abbey has been able to ensure the presence of vines even in the darkest moments of history, thanks to the direct involvement of monks, not entangled in wars, in its production and thanks to the importance of wine in the rite of the Eucharist.
The production area of “Rosazzo” wine takes place in the hilly area between the municipalities of Manzano and San Giovanni al Natisone, with a very small parcel of land spreading to the municipality of Corno di Rosazzo, all in the province of Udine, in the southern part of the “Friuli Colli Orientali” DOC area.
