Antico Broilo Ribolla Gialla 2025
Prepotto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy
100% Ribolla Gialla
Ribolla Gialla is one of the historic indigenous white grapes of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, with deep roots in the hills along the Italian-Slovenian border. Naturally high in acidity, it is a variety defined less by overt fruit than by freshness, structure, minerality, and tension—qualities that make it particularly expressive of its place of origin.
In the glass, Antico Broilo’s Ribolla Gialla shows a subtle orange hue, immediately suggesting some degree of contact with the grape skins. The wine is remarkably clean and refreshing, with bright citrus and restrained orchard-fruit notes rather than an overtly aromatic profile.
On the palate, excellent acidity provides energy and definition. The wine is crisp and focused, with a subtle mineral quality and an appealing sense of tension. A delicate almond note emerges alongside the fruit, adding a savory dimension and greater complexity. Despite its structure, the wine remains wonderfully fresh and balanced, finishing cleanly with its acidity and understated almond character lingering on the palate.
The grapes are grown in Prepotto, in the eastern hills of Friuli near the Slovenian border. Here, rolling and often steep vineyard sites are rooted in the region’s distinctive ponca soils, alternating layers of marl and sandstone. These lean, well-drained soils, together with the influences of the Julian Alps and Adriatic Sea, create conditions particularly well suited to Ribolla Gialla, allowing the grape to ripen while retaining the natural acidity and freshness that are central to its character.
Ribolla Gialla has a longstanding relationship with skin-contact winemaking, a tradition deeply connected to Friuli and neighboring Slovenia. Even relatively brief maceration can contribute color, texture, and structure without sacrificing freshness. In this wine, the subtle orange color hints at that tradition while the overall impression remains one of purity, freshness, and restraint.
Following Antico Broilo’s Friulano, this is another compelling expression of the estate and its commitment to Friuli’s indigenous varieties. Where the Friulano showed greater breadth and texture, this Ribolla Gialla is about acidity, freshness, minerality, and tension, a clean and beautifully balanced wine that speaks clearly of both the grape and its origins in Prepotto.