Iuli

Iuli is a small estate in the Monferrato zone of Piedmont, northern Italy, making a range of red wines with an emphasis on the Barbera grape variety.

The very chalky mineral-rich soils of the Cerrina valley produce elegant Barbera. The estate has vineyards around the villages of Cerrino, Odalengo, Sala and Quarti Pontestura which share this soil type but offer a range of microclimates. Fabrizio Iuli farms 15 hectares (37 acres) of which 9ha (22 acres) are estate owned. The vineyards are cultivated organically – few chemicals have ever been used by growers in the region, and so certification was obtained rather begrudgingly, purely for marketing purposes. 

The estate makes three varietal Barbera del Monferrato Superiore DOCG red wines. Umberta is fermented and aged in stainless steel, Rossoro ages for 15 to 16 months in used oak. Barabba is fermented in stainless steel then spends 20 to 24 months in new oak.

These could have been classified as Barbera d'Asti but Iuli chose to market them under the local appellation instead. However after various run-ins he is planning to gradually withdraw the portfolio from the DOC and DOCG classification. One area of contention for him is not being able to name the grape variety of the label of a Monferrato Rosso.