words and photography: Maria Kochetkova
If you are a vino-enthusiast, Trieste might just be the place for you. Malvasia wine, produced around Trieste, is a dreamy blend of noble varieties of grapes which are capable of producing wine of any feasible color in dry, sparkling and sweet styles.
To learn more about this local gem, we visited Bruno Lenardon, one of the local producers, at his farm in the picturesque seaside village of Muggia along the Slovenian border. Following a narrow, hilly country road we arrived at Lenardon’s place where excellent olive oil and white wine has been produced by Lenardon’s family for more than a century.
“My dad in the 50’s would go to Collio to buy grape and in the 60’s he started making good quality wine. At the beginning we would just make wine and oil for family and friends but 25 years ago I started following in my dad’s footsteps and our wine business took off.”
Lenardon’s Malvasia is considered one of the best in our region, and it is known for its pleasant taste and smell.
“I always tried to make things with quality and love. Perhaps, that’s why my wine has been greatly acclaimed.”
As we were walking around his farm Lenardon led us to the stone wall on his back porch where a wide yellow vertical stripe was painted.
“This is a plaque decreed that by the postwar agreement of 1954, Italy fell on one side, Yugoslavia on the other. And our house was effectively cleaved in two,” he said laughing. “We needed a kind of passport to go from one side of the house to the other.” He proceeded, as Triestini do, to tell the story of his family: how his grandfather fought for the Italians in World War I, while the man’s brother took up arms for the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
“But let’s get back to wine. Every bottle opening should be considered a feast (una festa),” said Bruno opening a 2018 Malvasia. “It’s the culmination of a year’s hard work”.
From Malvasia, to his favorite “Elysium”, Bruno’s wine is a unique blend of history, Trieste’s territory and love for one’s culture.
