Producer of the Year: Livio Felluga
Marguerite and I had the opportunity to meet Livio Felluga this past October during a trip to northern Italy. Now 94, his step 
slowed by living so fully for all those years, he still exhibited the exuberance of someone whose heart overflows with love of family and home. His winery in Brazzano di Cormons, now run by his son Andrea, who served as a gracious host during our two days in Friuli, is that home — one that Signor Livio founded over a half century ago as he helped inspire the renaissance of Friulian and indeed all Italian wine.
Livio Felluga came to Friuli from Isola d’Istria, now part of Slovenia, and then after the First World War, Grado on the Adriatic, where the family relocated. There, as a young man, he helped his father sell wine. It was in that capacity that he first visited the soft hills of Colio in Friuli, and by his own admission fell in love with them – both their sun-dappled natural beauty, and the beauty of what grew there, whether wildflowers, plums, or grapes. But then came another war, this time with military service, eight years away from home, including time in North Africa and then, as a prisoner, in Scotland. It was not until the 1950s that he returned to those hills, where he purchased land to plant vines and make wines. Over the subsequent decades, those wines played a leading role in the revitalization of the region, as the whites in particular were among the first from Italy to achieve international renown. They displayed then–and continue to display–now a delicacy and grace that seems rooted in a locale that is indeed like no other.
Andrea Felluga took us to Isola d’Istria and Grado, as well as 
Brazzano, enabling us to retrace the journey of his father’s life. In the process, we came to share, if only vicariously, his deep sense of reverence and, yes, love for his home. We of course also drank the Felluga wines, none of which disappointed, and some of which managed to do what only truly great wines can do–suggest not just a place but a home, a terroir marked not simply by dirt and stone but also by lived life. That evocation, sensed throughout our visit and tasted most noticeably in the white ‘Terre Alte’ and ‘Picolit,’ as well as the red ‘Sossó,’ is why Livio Felluga is my producer of the year for 2008.
Wine of the Year: Philipponnat Champagne Clos des Goisses 1996
I had the good fortune to try scores of wonderful wines this past 
year, but there is absolutely no doubt in my mind which was the very best. It was Philipponnat Clos des Goisses 1996 Champagne, enjoyed courtesy of Peter Gago, head winemaker at Penfolds in South Australia, who brought it to dinner last June, after hearing my WRO colleague and friend, Michael Franz, and I sing its praises the year before. This wine is unbelievably compelling, being simultaneously rich and lithe, substantial and delicate, honeyed and vibrant. It ranks as the finest Champagne, and one of the two or three best wines of any sort, that I have ever tasted.
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