From: Cormons, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy
Varietal: Ribolla Gialla, Malvasia, and Friulano
Taste: In the glass, the wine pours a pale gold with greenish reflections. The nose opens with a mix of fresh alpine herbs, lemon balm, and white peach, followed by layers of sea spray, dried chamomile, and crushed rock. The palate is tense and vertical, showing a firm core of citrus pith, green almond, and saline minerality. Ribolla Gialla contributes structure and drive, Friulano lends a subtle, waxy midweight character, and Malvasia brings lifted aromatics.. The lees contact imparts a creamy textural counterpoint without rounding out the edges. The finish is stony and clean, marked by a gentle bitterness and lingering notes of lemon zest and fennel frond.
Pairing: This wine’s firm acidity and mineral tension pair best with clean, vegetal, or herbal dishes, especially those that emphasize texture and natural salinity. Use its structure to complement poached white fish or seared scallops with shaved fennel and citrus. Grilled spring onions with anchovy vinaigrette or asparagus risotto with preserved lemon work exceptionally well with the wine’s herbal tones and lees-derived weight.
Above: Martissima is based in the town of Cormons, in Friuli-Venezia Giulia’s Collio DOC, a borderland of climate, language, and terrain pressed between the Julian Alps and the Adriatic near the Slovenian border. The project is led by Marta Venica, who launched her micro-estate in 2019 after years of hands-on experience in some of Europe’s most influential cellars.
