Castello di Spessa

Castello di Spessa is a historic estate in Capriva del Friuli, in the province of Gorizia, in the heart of Collio. The castle, documented as a fortified building as early as the 14th century, was a wine estate in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It belonged for over three hundred years to the della Torre Valsassina family and in 1773 hosted Giacomo Casanova; in those years it was also visited by Lorenzo Da Ponte, Mozart’s librettist. Between 1879 and 1901 the castle underwent a Neo-Gothic restoration, and in 1987 it became the property of the entrepreneur Loretto Pali. Since 2014 the wines have followed a clear direction: to combine international elegance with the character of Collio. Collio, once a seabed, owes the minerality of its wines to the ponca, a soil of marl and sandstone. The castle’s medieval cellars are still used today for aging, together with a Second World War bunker dug 18 meters deep, at a constant temperature of 14 degrees, rediscovered in 1987. Standout labels include Friulano Rassauer, Sauvignon Segrè, Pinot Bianco Santarosa, and a Pinot Noir awarded as the best in Friuli Venezia Giulia. History, art, and great whites make Castello di Spessa a symbol of Collio.