CastelCosa Wine Museum

Art & Culture

30 August 2018

Art & Culture

CastelCosa Wine Museum

An ancient manor stands alone in the countryside of San Giorgio della Richinvelda in the province of Pordenone and, more precisely, in the village of Cosa. It can easily be recognised by its large park surrounded by a crenellated wall.

The entire ground floor and its 650 square metres are dedicated to the Wine Museum, with over 4500 bottles. These are wines from all parts of the world, collected as travel souvenirs by Gianfranco Furlan, a businessman in the wine industry and owner of the Castle since 1978, when he decided to transfer his wine business and associated wine cellar to this area of Friuli Venezia Giulia.

Within a few years, the number of pieces collected has increased greatly in number; so much so that Furlan decided to form a collection of them, subdividing it into thematic routes and geographical areas. The exhibition is laid out in six rooms, with further displays in the basement where there is the real cellar with wooden barrels for ageing wine.

In room 1, there are the oldest bottles – the very first dates from 1821 – those with the most important or particular labels, while in the later rooms there are wines from all the regions of Italy, with a prevalence of those from Piedmont, Tuscany and Friuli Venezia Giulia, but there is also a large collection of bottles from all over the world.

As background, there are some fine paintings and old equipment used for working with wine in the cellar: manual and mechanical presses, wine presses and pumps, wooden barrels, vats, cappers, sales for grapes, carts for transport and various containers for wine such as jugs and pitchers, buckets and demijohns, as well as an area that reproduces the setting of the old village inns.

There is even a press dating back to 1700. This collection of wines was exhibited for the first time in 1984, on the occasion of the Sagra degli Osei of Sacile and even then boasted 1500 pieces. Uncorking one of these bottles is always a surprise and the goodness of the wine within is not always assured. The secret lies in letting the wine oxygenate after opening.

This operation has no fixed rules, and only a connoisseur can understand when the oxygenation of the wine begins to awaken the primary aromas of the grapes and it is time to pour the wine into the glass, to admire the brick-like colour and taste all the nuances that ageing gives.

The Museum can be visited only upon prior booking by contacting the heirs of Furlan at the addresses that you will find on the site: http://www.castelcosa.com/castello/.

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Esmeralda Perosa

I'm a slow tourist, with a backpack and map at my fingertips. I love cinema and old movies. I collect photos and extraordinary stories of ordinary people. Friuli is a mix of plain, sea and mountain, where special places are just around the corner.