Vin de la Neu 2021 – Nicola Biasi

Nicola Biasi, born in Cormons in 1981, is an internationally renowned winemaker. After gaining formative experience in Friuli, Australia, South Africa, and Tuscany, he led prestigious wineries like San Polo and Poggio al Tesoro.
In 2012, Biasi launched his personal project, Vin de la Neu, cultivating the resilient Johanniter grape at nearly 1,000 meters above sea level. This wine has earned multiple accolades, including the Next in Wine 2015 award.
Since 2016, he has worked as a successful consultant, and in 2021, he was named Italy’s Best Young Winemaker and Cult Oenologist.
In 2022, he established “Resistenti Nicola Biasi,” a network dedicated to sustainably producing exceptional wines.

Vin de la Neu 2021

The Vintage and Harvest
The 2021 growing season brought unique but ideal conditions for producing wines with great aging potential. The vegetative cycle began at least ten days later than usual, protecting new buds from the early spring frosts. April and May saw regular weather, while June was unusually dry compared to previous years. Conversely, July brought significant rainfall, delaying the veraison and overall grape maturation.
This slow ripening process extended the harvest date by a few days. To ensure optimal grape quality, the team thinned the clusters, allowing each berry to achieve perfect ripeness. Harvesting took place on Saturday, October 16. The grapes, gently placed in small perforated 15-kg crates, rested overnight in the natural cold of the Dolomites before being processed the following morning.

Winemaking and Aging
The two small vineyard plots yielded approximately 1,200 kg of Johanniter grapes, divided equally. Each plot was vinified separately. After static clarification in uncoated concrete tanks, the must began fermentation in French oak barrels. Grapes from the older vineyard were placed in two new barrels, while those from the younger vines were fermented in two second-use barrels, previously employed for Vin de la Neu 2020. Alcoholic fermentation lasted about three weeks for both, as they had nearly identical sugar levels. After a vigorous battonage, the wines returned to concrete tanks to undergo malolactic fermentation.
Once the malic acid conversion was complete after about two weeks, the wines returned to the barrels for aging. For Vin de la Neu, the aging phase is crucial to achieve the desired elegance and complexity through yeast contact and micro-oxygenation. For Vin de la Neu 2021, daily battonage was performed until early spring. In April, the wines from the older and younger vineyards were blended and spent the final six months aging together. In October 2022, the wine was clarified, filtered, and bottled