The 2006 Pignacolusse is a gorgeous, exciting red that captures the best qualities of Pignolo, one of Friuli’s indigenous red grapes. The French oak is particularly well integrated in this vintage. The 2006 shows wonderful richness and depth in its dark fruit, along with an additional measure of volume from the oak. The 2006 is one of the best vintages of Pignacolusse I can remember tasting. The wine can be enjoyed today if opened in advance, or cellared. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2022. These new releases from Silvio Jermann include a number of fabulous bottles. In particular, I was impressed with the top 2008s, a vintage where the cool minerality of the year prevails over the house’s typically lush style, an approach I tend to find less interesting. Jermann has a new red on the horizon, the Pignolo Vigna Truss, from recently purchased hillside vineyards in Dolegna, the home of his massive, new cellar. Previously, Jermann’s Pignolo had mostly come from the flats of Villanova, a far less prestigious village in Isonzo, rather than the Collio. I tasted all of the 2009 entry-level whites from screwcaps. Readers should be aware that Jermann is owned by my wife’s uncle. I have always viewed education as an important component of wine criticism. An article on Friuli without these wines would have been incomplete and ultimately the consumer would have been poorer for their exclusion. For those reasons I have chosen to include the wines in this report. Neither my wife nor I have any financial or other interest, direct or indirect, in this property.Importer: Empson, USA, Alexandria, VA; tel. (703) 684-0900

The 2005 Pignacolusse Campi dei Fratti e Monache is an impressive wine. A perfumed, expressive bouquet melds seamlessly into a core of raspberries, flowers, spices and minerals as this impeccably elegant wine opens up in the glass. Medium in body, the 2005 Pignacolusse possesses outstanding length and a poised, finessed finish. Pignacolusse is a wine that in its short history has proven to age nicely in bottle, taking on gorgeous aromatic complexity over time. This is a great effort from Silvio Jermann and his team, who have managed to tame the formidable Pignolo tannins to a degree I have never previously encountered. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2020. This set of new releases from Silvio Jermann is once again mixed. Some of the wines are outstanding, but a number of bottlings, the Pinot Grigio and Pinot Bianco in particular, are far off the pace of the region’s leading producers. In addition to the wines below, I also had a chance to taste Jermann’s 1999 Vintage Tunina, Dreams and Capo Martino. The wines have aged quite well, most notably the Capo Martino, which showed terrific freshness and minerality. Readers should be aware that Jermann is owned by my wife’s uncle. I have always viewed education as an important component of wine criticism. An article on Friuli without these wines would have been incomplete and ultimately the consumer would have been poorer for their exclusion. For those reasons I have chosen to include the wines in this report. Neither my wife nor I have any financial or other interest, direct or indirect, in this property.Importer: Empson, USA, Alexandria, VA; tel. (703) 684-0900

The 2004 Pignacolusse is a wine of stark contrasts. On the positive side, the wine possesses notable elegance in its massive dark red fruit, with superior length and silky tannnins. However, the 2004 Pignacolusse also shows a level of volatile acidity (VA) I haven’t encountered in previous vintages. Although some of the VA recedes with air, it remains a part of this wine’s personality. In some ways this wine reminds me of a traditionally made Barolo or Brunello of years past, although the density and richness are clearly those of a wine from the modern school. Readers will want to taste this wine prior to making any significant purchases. Jermann bottles two wines from the indigenous Pignolo grape. This Pignacolusee is made from fruit grown on the plains and is given 30 months in French oak. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2014. Silvio Jermann has much more competition from his neighbors these days. One can’t help noticing that Jermann is increasingly being left behind by the area’s new generation of ambitious, quality-minded producers, something that was brought home to me quite clearly when I visited the region’s top estates a few months ago. Ironically for a producer famous for his whites, it is actually the reds that are now among the estate’s most interesting wines.Importer: Empson, USA, Alexandria, VA; tel. (703) 684-0900

The 2003 Pignacolusse (Pignolo) is a full-bodied effort packed with dark jammy fruit, chocolate and toasted oak. Still quite primary, it also possesses excellent length but the tannins finish hard and dry, very much in keeping with the quality of the vintage and the variety. The wine's imposing tannins will require some time to settle down. Anticipated maturity: 2009-2018. Silvio Jermann was among the early leaders in the move towards high quality wines in Friuli. His Vintage Tunina, a field blend of late-harvested fruit, was a trail blazing wine in the 1980s even if today it is not always as outstanding as it used to be. Jermann has finally finished construction of what can only be described as a massive, cavernous cellar in Ruttars, the source of the fruit for his Capo Martino and Pignolo. The estate makes a set of entry-level varietal wines as well as its top bottlings, most of which are blends. Jermann appears to have been more successful with his whites in 2004 and 2006. His 2005s seem to lack body as well complexity.Importer: Empson, USA, Alexandria, VA; tel. (703) 684-0900.