LIVIO FELLUGA

It is obvious that the story of Livio Felluga and his wines is bound up with the history of this very special land in the north east corner of the Adriatic, where the Mediterranean meets central Europe.
It is a history of ever-shifting frontiers, vanished empires, passing wars and people who have chosen to remain.
It is the story of a family that endured two world wars, living first in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and then in the young Kingdom of Italy, on the rocky coast of the Istrian peninsula and the lagoon of Grado, before finally settling in the gently rolling hills of Friuli.
The return to Italy was far from easy for veterans of the Second World War, especially for those who had left their families in this long-suffering corner of the Adriatic.
The survivors came back to find it was no longer a proud bridgehead into Europe. The physical, political and ethnic frontiers had changed irremediably, as had the agricultural and social panorama of the hill country itself.
The rural population was moving away, leaving the land the poorer, and abandoning the crops, values and traditions that are indivisible from the soil.
Livio Felluga had to face another battle to revive the hills, convinced that only high-quality viticulture could breathe new life into the Friulian countryside.
With great courage, he began to restore old vineyards and plant new ones, introducing innovative ideas and techniques.
It was hard work, but Livio Felluga set to it with the tenacity and passion that would help him in the coming years to create one of Friuli’s most impressive wineries, earning his universally acknowledged reputation as the man who re-established Friuli’s winemaking heritage.

The patriarch Livio Felluga passed away in December 2016 at the age of 102.