Orzan Ivaldo

Ivaldo Orzan’s passion for winemaking led him in 1964 to buy the vineyard that had belonged to his grandfather in Capriva del Friuli, less than ten miles from the border with Slovenia. His sons shared the love for preserving family traditions and joined the business: Dario making wine and Renato producing cured meats which can be tasted in their farm-to-table restaurant. Dario followed his great-grandfather’s footsteps working in vineyards, 5 hectares (~12.5 acres) planted with grapevines that have been farmed in the Collio wine region of Friuli Venezia Giulia for centuries: Ribolla Gialla, Friulano, Malvasia, Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet, and Chardonnay. By practicing sustainable farming in the vineyards and limiting intervention in the cellar, his wines, 20,000 bottles (~1,670 cases) per year, emphasize the terroir. While still employing traditional winemaking practices such as utilizing the family’s hand screw wine press and manually bottling during the waning moon phase, Dario also thinks of the future by only using electricity derived from certified renewable sources.