Scarpetta 2024 Pinot Grigio Friuli-Venezia Giulia Italy 750ml

"Scarpetta" means a small piece ofbread used to soak up the lastbit of delicious sauce on theplate that you can'tpossibly leave behind. It's thegesture that tells youeverything about how Italians relateto food and to the enjoyment ofeveryday meals — theinsistence that nothing worth havingshould be leftunfinished, that the pleasure at thetable deserves to bepursued to the very last drop. WhenBobby Stuckey and LachlanMackinnon-Patterson named their wineproject after this gesture, theywere making a statement aboutwhat they wanted Scarpetta winesto be: everyday Italian wines,accessible and honest andgenuinely good, made from the regionsand varietiesthat the founders fell in lovewith during travels throughnortheastern Italy.

BobbyStuckey is a Master Sommelier andthe owner of Frasca Food and Winein Boulder, Colorado — one ofthe most celebrated Italianregional restaurants in the UnitedStates, whose focus onFriuli-Venezia Giulia cuisine andwines earned it a James Beard Award.His deep knowledge of Friuli, andhis specific affection for the wines ofthis overlookednortheastern Italian corner, are whatgave Scarpetta Pinot Grigioits specific productionphilosophy: not a single-terroir winebut a two-terroir wine, combining thecrispness and minerality of theGrave region's gravelly soils withthe body and complexity of theColli Orientali's Poncahillsides.

The result is a PinotGrigio that the winemaker describesas "light on its feet butcomplex" — bone dry, bright acidity,stone fruits and melon with adistinct mineral note, the kind of winethat worksbeautifully as a stand-alone aperitivoand even betteralongside food. The CellarTrackercommunity found it "much better withfood" — fleshy, mouth-coating, anddistinctly mineral, withgreen melon, unripe peach, apple, pear,lemon zest, and guava. Total Winedescribes "veins of minerality andfloral aromatics, stone fruits,lavender, honey, pear, whiteflowers and minerals." The scarpettawine. The one you finish.

Origins & Craftsmanship

Scarpetta was founded by Bobby Stuckey —Master Sommelier, owner of theJames Beard Award-winning FrascaFood and Wine in Boulder — andLachlan Mackinnon-Patterson,Frasca's executive chef, whoseshared passion for the food and wineculture of Friuli-Venezia Giuliainspired the creation of anItalian wine project built around thevarieties and regions they discoveredduring travels throughnortheastern Italy. The brand drawsfrom relationships with growersand estates across Friuli-VeneziaGiulia and other Italianregions, with the Pinot Grigio sourcedfrom two specificallycomplementary Friulian terroirs.

Friuli-Venezia Giulia is theregion that gives Pinot Grigio its mostspecifically serious expression — thenortheastern Italian cornerbordered by Austria and Slovenia whosecool climate, diverse soil types, andgeneration-spanning viticulturalhistory have produced Italy's mostcomplex and most internationallyrespected Pinot Grigio wines since the1970s. Within the region,Scarpetta draws from two sub-zones thatcontribute complementary qualities:

Friuli Grave (70%) — the broad,flat alluvial plain west of Udine,whose name comes from the gravel("ghiaia") deposited by ancientglacial rivers from the Alps. Thefree-draining, light, gravelly soilsproduce wines ofcrisp, clean minerality and brightacidity — the cool, openlandscape's specific contribution to aPinot Grigio of freshness andprecision.

Colli Orientali del Friuli Ponca soil (30%) — the steep hillsides ofthe Colli Orientali, Friuli'spremium wine-growing zone borderingSlovenia, where the soils are"Ponca" — a specific marl andsandstone formation that is one ofthe most specific and the mostspecifically body-and-complexity-conferring soil types in all ofItalian white wine production. ThePonca's tighter structure and the steephillside exposure produce grapes ofgreater concentration and aromaticdepth, adding the body and the specificmineral weight that the Grave componentalone cannot provide.

Critics Reviews

No publishednumerical critic scores are availablefor the 2024 Scarpetta Pinot Grigiospecifically.

Scarpetta winemaker's notes (2024 vintage confirmed):
Color: "Lightstraw color with just a hint ofsalmon."
Aromatics: "Aromas of bothstone fruits and melon."
Palate: "Showing Pinot Grigio's ability tobe light on its feet but complex.Melon and stone fruits withminerals and medium body."

Total Wine (confirmed):
"Light anddry with veins of minerality andfloral aromatics. Crisp and dry withmedium-high acidity and tastes of stonefruits, lavender, honey, pear, whiteflowers and minerals."

CellarTracker community (2023 vintage — most recent scored, 87.6/100):
"Light silver/straw gold color. Aromas oforchard, stone and tropical fruits, wetstones and a pleasant funk. Flavors ofgreen melon, unripe peach, apple, pear, lemon zest and guava. Distinct mineral note on the crisp medium finish. A bit fleshy, mouth coating and bone dry. Bright acidity and very fresh tasting. Much better with food."

CellarTracker blind tasting note (most complete):
"Ripe white peach, ripe lychee, ripe melon, ripe apple, ripe pear, guava, coriander, sage and palo santo on the nose. Medium+ intensity of aromas."

Anthony Gismondi and Stuart Tobe (prior vintage):
"Floral, ripe pear, light honey and apple skin aromas. Fresh, dry, creamy, slightly lean palate with grapefruit rind, pear, light lees, honey and guava flavours. Solid style for food."

Scarpetta founding philosophy:
"True to Italian traditions, part of everyday meals include drinkinggood wine, great conversation, andlittle moments of celebration.Scarpetta was created as an homage tothis lifestyle."

Tasting Profile

Nose
Lightstraw with just a hint of salmon — the2024 vintage's Ponca soil component'ssubtle contribution in a color ofgenuine freshness. The nose openswith the two-terroircombination's most immediatelyappealing quality: stone fruitsand melon lead together — peach andwhite nectarine fromthe Colli Orientali's Poncaconcentration, green melon from theGrave's crisp precision, thetwo complementary fruitregisters creating the more completearomatic picture that Scarpettaspecifically designed thetwo-terroir blend to achieve. Appleand pear add orchardfreshness. Lemon zest adds citrusbrightness. Guava adds the mostspecifically unusual and the mostpleasantly tropical secondary fruitnote — the Ponca soil'smineral-concentration qualitytranslating into this unexpectedaromatic depth. Wet stones add the mostimmediately minerally and the mostspecifically Friulian secondaryquality. A pleasant funk from thenatural vinification adds complexity.Floral notes of white flowers andlavender add delicacy. Light honey fromthe lees contact adds warmth.

Palate
Bone dry, fleshy,mouth-coating, and distinctly mineral —the CellarTracker community's mostaccurate characterization of a PinotGrigio that achieves genuine bodywithout sacrificing the Grave's crispprecision. The entry is light on itsfeet in the winemaker's specificcharacterization — not weighty, notheavy, but genuinely present on thepalate in the medium-body register thatthe 30% Ponca component specificallycontributes. Stone fruits and meloncarry the primary fruit characterthrough the mid-palate.Grapefruit rind adds the mostspecifically dry and the mosttart secondary citrus note. Brightacidity drives every flavor forwardwith the freshness that theGrave region's gravelly soils producemost directly. The mineral note isdistinct and persistent — thePonca marl's most enduringlyquality-confirming contribution at thepalate's core. Juicy, tart, andcreamy simultaneously — the mostmulti-textural Pinot Grigio descriptorconfirmed across multiple tasters.

Finish
Crisp, medium length, andmineral-persistent. The distinctmineral note carries the close mostenduringly from the CellarTrackerobservation — the Ponca soil's specificcontribution most present at the finishas a clean, slightly stony, genuinelyterroir-expressive quality. Lemon zestand stone fruit linger. The acidity'sfreshness makes the finish genuinelyrefreshing and genuinely appetizing —the wine that is, in every taster'sassessment, "much better with food."

Quick Overview

Food Pairings

Themineral precision, bright acidity, andbone-dry character make this oneof the most specificallyItalian-table-oriented white wines inthe Blackwell'ssection — better with foodthan without, as multiple tastersconfirmed:

• Sashimi, pescecrudo, and ceviche — thewinemaker's own specificrecommendations
• Grilled shrimp and seared scallops —the citrus andmineral carrying throughshellfish
• Lemon herb chicken
• Fresh salads with vinaigrette —the acidity amplifying thedressing
• Light pasta witholive oil and herbs — themost classically Friulian andthe most specificallyscarpetta-tradition pairing
• Risotto with vegetables
• Lightgrilled fish