From Istria to the heart of the Collio: six generations of the Felluga family
The roots of Russiz Superiore reach deeper than the history of the winery itself. Since the second half of the 19th century, the Felluga family has been connected to viticulture: Michele Felluga began buying and selling wines in Istria, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His son Marco added his own cultivation to the trade, and grandson Giovanni opened a cellar in the fortress town of Gradisca d'Isonzo in the Collio in 1938. After the Second World War, when Istria became Yugoslavian and the family lost their estate, everything finally shifted to Friuli.
In 1956, Marco Felluga — one of Giovanni's seven sons — founded the winery under his own name. Eleven years later, in 1967, he acquired the Russiz Superiore estate in Capriva del Friuli: an estate whose name was documented as early as 1273, when Raimondo della Torre, Patriarch of Aquileia, described the elevated position of the hills. The estate's heraldic animal, the double-headed eagle, still reminds us today of the Torre-Tasso princes who ruled here for centuries. Today, Ilaria Felluga, as the sixth generation, continues to run both houses — Marco Felluga and Russiz Superiore — together, supported since 2024 by a partnership with the Tommasi Family Estates from Valpolicella.
Ponca soils, hand-picking, and the pursuit of longevity
The estate covers around 100 hectares in Capriva del Friuli, about 50 of which are planted with vines. The decisive factor for the character of the wine lies in the soil: the so-called Ponca, an Eocene alternation of sandstone, marl, limestone, and clay layers that were once marine sediment. The material is impermeable to water — rainwater runs off, erosion remains minimal, and waterlogging is excluded. Combined with the microclimatic location between the Adriatic coast (about 30 kilometers away) and the protective wall of the Julian Prealps, a Mediterranean climate with natural freshness is created, which brings minerality and acid structure to the grapes.
The vineyards are managed according to integrated cultivation methods and are SQNPI and VIVA certified. The harvest is carried out exclusively by hand. In the vineyard, the team has been working with the Bigot Index since Roberto Felluga, the fifth generation — a scientific method that uses nine viticultural parameters to evaluate the qualitative potential of individual plots. This plot-based approach, which is reminiscent of Burgundy and Alsace, is the foundation of the quality standard.
White substance and red depth: the range at a glance
Russiz Superiore is primarily known as a white wine house — a consequence of the soil and climate. Friulano, Pinot Bianco, Pinot Grigio, and Sauvignon Blanc stand for varietal clarity and a concise minerality that the Ponca soil shapes. The flagship of the whites is the Col Disôre Bianco, a cuvée of Pinot Bianco, Friulano, Sauvignon, and Ribolla Gialla — named after the Friulian toponym for the hill on which the oldest vines stand. The wines are designed for aging potential: with increasing time in the bottle, they develop ripe fruit and mineral complexity.
In addition, the estate produces convincing red wines: Merlot and Cabernet Franc from the Collio as well as the Riserva degli Orzoni, a red wine that proves the estate's storage capacity on the red side. The entire range comes exclusively from our own cultivation — no purchased grape material, no external enhancement. What ends up in the glass comes from these hills and no other place.
