Association of the Knights of the Cru Classification of Empress-Queen Maria Theresa – 29 October 2022
Charles-Louis de Noüe and Alis Marinic were the promoters of the first auction, held on 29 October 2022 in Nova Gorica at the Kostanjevica/Castagnevizza Monastery.
Maître Stéphane Aubert, associate director of the Artcurial auction house, conducted the auction, presenting all the wines.
For the occasion, 16 wineries (4 Italian and 12 Slovenian) offered a selection of wines for this special sale to fund the restoration of the frescoes in the chapel of the Castagnevizza Monastery, damaged by the earthquake.
One barrel is equivalent to 300 bottles. The lucky winners will have the pleasure of receiving 300 bottles numbered from 1 to 300, each with their name handwritten on the back label. The proceeds from this charity sale will go to the Kostanjevica/Castagnevizza Monastery
Charles X and the Count of Chambord are buried here, along with other members of the French royal family.
The event was held in the princely county of Gorizia and Gradisca, an ancient county that once belonged to the Habsburg monarchy. Formerly part of the Austrian Littoral, it lies on today’s border between Italy and Slovenia, stretching from the Adriatic coast to the Eastern Alps, just an hour from Venice.
In the evening, a gala dinner was held at Spessa Castle (Capriva del Friuli), prepared exclusively by star chefs Tomaz Kavcic and Uros Fakuc.
In 1787, Empress-Queen Maria Theresa published the first Cru Classification of the County of Gorizia, based on the Tavolare land registry system. This Classification was rediscovered by historian Stefano Cosma. Thanks to this discovery, Charles-Louis de Noüe founded the “Association of the Knights of the Cru Classification of Empress-Queen Maria Theresa”. This is the first time since Maria Theresa’s day that we can taste and discover all the Crus of the ancient wine classification, produced by the finest winemakers of Collio, Colli Orientali, Brda, Isonzo, Vipava, Aquileia and Carso.
The wine classification of Beaune (Burgundy) dates back to 1855, which means this classification, based on the quality of the wines produced, predates it by about 70 years.
