'A mountain of dirt and trees' podcast rallies support for devastated Friuli winery

The Italian Wine Podcast has issued an appeal after a catastrophic landslide struck Friuli’s Borgo del Tiglio, destroying buildings, damaging vineyards and claiming two lives. The disaster coincides with growing concern across the wine world about climate-related extremes, as examined recently by the drinks business.

Borgo del Tiglio in Brazzano, Collio, has suffered extensive damage after a devastating landslide triggered by more than 300mm of rain in a few hours on the night of 16 November. The torrent claimed two lives when a nearby house collapsed under mud and debris, with the winery’s oenologist taking part in rescue efforts before being hospitalised. He is expected to recover.

The family-run estate, founded in the 1970s and known for Collio Ronco della Chiesa Friulano and Studio di Bianco, produces around fifty thousand bottles a year. The landslide destroyed three historic buildings and filled the winery’s internal courtyard with what Mattia Manferrari described as “a mountain of dirt and trees” during a special edition of the podcast with host Stevie Kim.

Damage to vineyards and buried cellars

The slide partially struck the historic Ronco della Chiesa vineyard and caused widespread damage across the estate. Early assessments indicate the 2025 vintage in barrique remains intact in the underground cellar, which is currently holding despite being buried under tons of mud. The bottle storage area also escaped destruction, but the winery lost ten thousand bottles from its historic archive.

Manferrari told the Italian Wine Podcast that the immediate priority must remain the families of the two victims, but said he hopes the tragedy can draw attention to Borgo del Tiglio’s sustainable approach and the wider impacts of climate change on small traditional producers. He warned that “it will affect everyone sooner or later.”

Climate pressures mount across the wine world

The Friuli disaster comes amid growing urgency within the industry to confront the escalating risks associated with climate extremes. As reported by the drinks business, grape growers are contending with wildfires, record heat, droughts, floods, unpredictable precipitation, hail and frost in what Kathleen Willcox described as “operations in the eye of a hurricane.”

According to research cited in that report, wildfires have doubled globally in two decades, nine of the ten warmest US years have occurred since 1998, and the decade from 2014 to 2023 was the hottest on record. Fallout from extreme weather has cost an estimated US$2.8 trillion over twenty years.

Producers from Chianti Classico to Napa and Penedès are adapting with regenerative agriculture, expanded cover cropping, new trellising systems, forest buffers, drainage redesign and collaborations on water management. Some wineries are even diversifying into vinegars, sodas and alternative beverages as they confront unusable harvests.