i Klivi

Items

i Klivi 2022 'Vipavska Dolina' Chardonnay, Slovenia	Login	—	In Stock
i Klivi 2022 'Brda' Sauvignon, Slovenia	Login	—	In Stock

The cross-border project of I Clivi, shaped by Mario Zanusso’s deep respect for shared Friulian–Slovenian heritage.

Traveling into the eastern reaches of Friuli means stepping into a landscape where borders have shifted, identities have overlapped, and history remains vividly present. Before World War I, this area formed part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, later Yugoslavia, and Slovenia only gained independence in 1991. The cultural and historical layers are impossible to ignore, especially in and around Gorizia, where major WWI battles unfolded across the broad hills at the foothills of the Julian Alps.

After WWI, the western half of Gorizia became Italian and the eastern half Slovenian. Although the land changed nation states, many families on the Italian side remained strongly connected to their pre-WWI Slovenian heritage. Through the Cold War, the Iron Curtain physically and psychologically divided Friuli and Slovenia. Today, the border is open and freely passable, but the old checkpoints and signage remain as stark reminders of the not-so-distant past.

Mario’s Perspective: One Landscape, Two Nations
Mario Zanusso of I Clivi farms barely eight minutes from the Slovenian border, directly across from the Brda wine region. Despite political divisions, Friuli and Slovenia share the same foundational elements: ponca/opoka soils, a deeply intertwined winemaking heritage, and a cultural rhythm shaped by the same hills.

Mario views the Slovenian side not as an “extension” but as a continuation of the same story—one landscape separated only by shifting lines on a map. Under the broader region known as Primorska, I Klivi encompasses vineyards in the subregions of Brda and Vipavska Dolina. These sites reflect the same elegance, tension, and quiet purity that define I Clivi’s Friulian wines.