Villa Russiz

Some top wineries are small, family-owned farms; others are the hobbies of a wine-loving millionaire spending the money they have made elsewhere. Many are old historical estates with aristocratic connections. Villa Russiz, however, is the only we know that is essentially a charity that supports orphaned children.

Founded in the nineteenth century by the childless Elvine Ritter de Zahony the estate houses both an educational institution and a world-class winery. The profits from the latter go to support the former. Rarely can buying and drinking fine wine have done quite so much good in the world.

Yet Villa Russiz is not as one blogger put it a "charity album", worth buying for the story but not the content. Instead, it is one of the northern Italy's greatest wineries. It has won more coveted Tri Biccheri awards from the Gambero Rosso than any other Friuilian winery.

Oenologist Gianni Menotti inherited the winemaking role from his father, taking over in 1988. His wines are always rich and concentrated, dry and fresh. Only the Chardonnay of the whites sees any oak, the others rely on the ripeness of the fruit for their power and intensity. As a rule, Menotti blocks malolactic fermentations in the whites to keep the wines' freshness and balance. Despite the cool, northern location of the Collio hills, many of the vineyards are suntraps. Ripening the grapes is not a problem here and alcohol levels of around 14% are far from unknown.

This dry, powerful style reminds us of the best Austrian wines with their full-bodied, extracted style. Perhaps that shouldn't be a surprise, given the geographical and historical ties Friuili has with its neighbour.