Since 1982, the Scarbolo family has been writing wine history in Friuli. The Scarbolo estate, once founded by Valter, is today being led into a new era by his children
Lara and Mattia. In 2020, the siblings took over the roughly 30-hectare estate in Lauzacco and immediately converted to organic farming with biodynamic influences. At the heart of it all is
Pinot Grigio – a grape variety to which Lara devotes her full attention. As an oenologist with stints at Franz Haas and Vie di Romans, she knows that this underestimated grape deserves more than the industrial mainstream.
A change of generation with consequences
For some 40 years Valter Scarbolo built up the estate in the Friuli Grave, including the legendary Trattoria La Frasca. When his children took over in 2020, they turned everything upside down. Mattia, who had previously worked in finance in New York, returned to the family land. His sister Lara, trained in Udine and Bordeaux and with experience at renowned estates such as Franz Haas and Vie di Romans, took charge of the winemaking. Together they shrank the business by almost 50 per cent and radically pared back the range, a bold move also made by
Cà La Bionda in Valpolicella with its focus on quality.
The rehabilitation of Pinot Grigio
Many regard Pinot Grigio as a mass-market wine, but not at Scarbolo. Lara is determined to give the variety "a new and high-quality meaning". The
Salvadi shows the classic side: fresh, mineral, precise. The
Pinot Grigio "Pipinot", by contrast, surprises with its copper-hued ramato style and intense notes of red berries, apricot and blood orange over a grippy texture. Scarbolo is among the pioneers of the return to the traditional ramato style, which its XL revived as early as the early 2000s.
Time as a quality factor
What sets Scarbolo apart from many others is patience. The wines mature for four to five years before they reach the market. This time in the cellar gives even supposedly simple wines such as the
Areore a depth and complexity rarely found at this price. Alongside Pinot Grigio, the
Refosco Peraria also impresses as a powerful red of the region.
The terroir of the Grave
Lauzacco lies in the Friuli Grave, not far from the river Torre and the Slovenian border. The clay and gravel soils and the particular microclimate between the Adriatic and the Alps are ideal for viticulture. While a new, state-of-the-art winery is being built, the philosophy remains the same: craftsmanship rather than industrial standards. Drinking Scarbolo means experiencing Pinot Grigio as it ought to be, with character, depth and the courage to swim against the tide.
