Meroi

Buttrio, Friuli

Meroi was founded in 1920 by Paolo Meroi’s great grandfather, Domenico. In 2004, Paolo also purchased the famed Zitelle vineyard. Other storied parcels that produce revelatory wines include the Barchetta and the Durì. Here in the high hills of Buttrio, the wines are a fascinating expression of the region's signature "ponca" soil: marl and sandstone from an Eocenic sea bed. This singular terroir has become increasingly recognized as producing some of the world’s finest, most fascinating wines. Meroi produces bottles to treasure, a fact borne out by their history: the family once relied on ingenuity to hide their best bottles from the Nazis, who occupied their farm and forced the family to cook for them every night. They never discovered what was hidden in the walls!

Meroi's small-production wines are fermented and left to age in the same very used barrels. Organic farming is embraced here, and In place of chemical pest control, the family encourages the natural battle between insects. 40% of Buttrio’s plantings are white wine grapes, such as long-planted Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio and Malvasia. The family also produces a truly delicious red made from Merlot and Refosco. Grapes the world thinks it knows well take on an entirely distinct flavor profile thanks to the ponca soil, and vineyards are planted on the site of an old quarry. The diurnal shift, the shockingly low yields, the family’s careful analysis of which site best loves which grapes, along with resolutely traditional cellar practices, all lead to wines of spectacular quality.