Italy · Friuli Grave (Central Gravelly Plain)

Società Agricola Fossa Mala SRL

A 36-hectare family estate in Grave del Friuli, farming river-clay soils in Fiume Veneto since 2003; its Rosato, a dry equal blend of Merlot and Cabernet under the IGT Trevenezie label, is its most visible export wine.

The producer

Fossa Mala started on 12 May 2003 with six hectares of vines on the flat alluvial plain of Fiume Veneto, in the Pordenone province of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Katia and Edoardo Roncadin grew the estate to 36 hectares and 203,000 vines over the following years, farming Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon on deep river-deposited silt and clay soils under the DOC Grave del Friuli appellation. The consolidated vineyard layout, with all vines wrapped around the single winery building, allows grapes to move from vine to cellar quickly, preserving freshness before processing begins.

In October 2025 the family transferred the Cantina RR winemaking and bottling arm to Cantina Rauscedo, a large Friulian cooperative. Fossa Mala kept its land and vines; Rauscedo took over production management. The estate's Rosato IGT Trevenezie, a dry salmon-pink wine blended equally from Merlot and Cabernet, remains the most widely available bottle: briefly macerating for colour, cool-fermented for fruit, and built for drinking young on its strawberry and raspberry frame.

Known for

Rosato IGT Trevenezie: dry, equal-blend Merlot and Cabernet from river-clay soils in Fiume Veneto.

Notable facts

The story

The Handover

In October 2025, the Roncadin family sat down with Cantina Rauscedo and agreed to hand over Cantina RR, the winemaking and bottling arm they had built alongside their vineyards since 2003. Kanada SpA, the family company, completed the transfer. Rauscedo, one of the largest cooperatives in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, took control of production management. What the Roncadin family kept was the land: all 36 hectares of vine on the Fiume Veneto plain, the 203,000 plants, the old villa sitting in the middle of the estate. They became grape growers supplying a cooperative rather than an independent producer taking wine to the bottle. It is a common trajectory in Italian wine, and it happened quickly enough that most of Fossa Mala's existing export customers may not yet know.

The Handover

In October 2025, the Roncadin family sat down with Cantina Rauscedo and agreed to hand over Cantina RR, the winemaking and bottling arm they had built alongside their vineyards since 2003. Kanada SpA, the family company, completed the transfer. Rauscedo, one of the largest cooperatives in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, took control of production management. What the Roncadin family kept was the land: all 36 hectares of vine on the Fiume Veneto plain, the 203,000 plants, the old villa sitting in the middle of the estate. They became grape growers supplying a cooperative rather than an independent producer taking wine to the bottle. It is a common trajectory in Italian wine, and it happened quickly enough that most of Fossa Mala's existing export customers may not yet know.

From the atlas

Società Agricola Fossa Mala SRL

At A Glance

The Producer

Fossa Mala began on 12 May 2003 with six hectares of vines on the flat alluvial plain of Fiume Veneto, a town in the Pordenone province of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Katia and Edoardo Roncadin, the siblings who now lead the estate, grew it to 36 hectares and 203,000 vines before October 2025, when their family company Kanada SpA transferred the Cantina RR winemaking and bottling branch to Cantina Rauscedo, a large cooperative in the region. Fossa Mala kept its vineyards and land; Rauscedo took over production management. Fossa Mala still farms its own grapes on its own ground but no longer vinifies independently.

The winery building sits in the middle of the vineyards, which means grapes travel a short distance from vine to cellar. Oenologist Adriano oversees the production process with his staff. The cellar holds 9,000 hectolitres total, with 250 hectolitres in wood and the remainder in temperature-controlled tanks. A photovoltaic installation rated at 380,000 kWh per year covers part of the estate's energy use.

Place

Grave del Friuli is a large DOC appellation covering the western lowlands of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, from the Tagliamento river westward toward Pordenone. The name comes from the gravelly river beds that once dominated the zone, but the soils at Fiume Veneto, where Fossa Mala farms, are heavy with silt and clay laid down over millennia by flood cycles from the rivers that cross the plain. These soils hold water and warmth, giving Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon the conditions to ripen fully on a flat, relatively warm growing plain.

The IGT Trevenezie label on the Rosato reflects a broader classification covering Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Trentino-Alto Adige, and Veneto together. Producers use it when a wine's grape blend or origin does not conform to the more specific DOC rules. In Fossa Mala's case, the Rosato blends Merlot and Cabernet in equal parts under the wider regional umbrella rather than the narrower Grave del Friuli DOC.

Soil And Site

The plain around Fiume Veneto carries deep deposits of silt and clay, the legacy of river flooding over thousands of years. These are rich, fat soils that retain moisture and build organic matter slowly. For Merlot, the clay fraction supports the grape's natural tendency toward soft tannin and ripe dark fruit. For Cabernet Sauvignon, the same ground moderates what could otherwise be angular tannin, pushing the variety toward rounder, more immediately approachable fruit.

All 36 hectares of vineyard are consolidated around the winery, a practical advantage in terms of harvest timing and grape condition on arrival at the cellar.

Story

The Roncadin family started Fossa Mala in 2003 as a young project in an old wine territory. Six hectares became 36 over the following years, building scale on the alluvial plain. Grave del Friuli is the appellation of Fossa Mala, producing large volumes of approachable wine from the river plain rather than the steep, mineral slopes that attract critical attention.

In October 2025, the Roncadin family made a structural decision: Kanada SpA transferred the Cantina RR production arm to Cantina Rauscedo. Fossa Mala became a farming estate that supplies grapes to a cooperative rather than bottling its own wines end to end. Whether that changes what appears in the bottle depends on what Rauscedo does with the fruit from those 36 hectares and 203,000 vines.

Vineyards And Cellar

The consolidated vineyard layout means that harvest is a tight, fast operation. Grapes from the flat alluvial parcels reach the cellar quickly, which preserves freshness and limits oxidation before processing begins. The cellar capacity of 9,000 hectolitres against an average crop of 468 tonnes suggests the estate produces multiple wines, though only the Rosato is fully documented in sourced material.

The 250 hectolitres of wood capacity is a modest fraction of total production, indicating that most wines are made in temperature-controlled steel rather than barrel. For the Rosato specifically, the producer notes brief skin maceration to draw colour, followed by cool fermentation to retain fruit aroma and acidity.

Wines

The Rosato IGT Trevenezie is Fossa Mala's most visible wine in export markets. It is an equal blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, bottled under the IGT Trevenezie classification to allow the 50/50 blend across variety and origin. The brief maceration pulls a salmon-pink colour from the skins before the juice ferments cool, keeping the wine light-bodied and fruit-forward rather than extractive or tannic.

Beyond the Rosato, Fossa Mala almost certainly produces varietal DOC Grave del Friuli wines from its Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon vines, given the cellar scale and vineyard size, but those wines are not documented in sourced material and are not described here.

In The Glass

The Rosato opens with strawberry and raspberry, with a quiet floral note sitting just behind the fruit. In the mouth it is dry and light-bodied, the short maceration keeping tannin out of the picture entirely. Acidity carries the wine forward cleanly and stops the fruit from sitting flat on the palate. The finish is short and fresh rather than complex, consistent with a wine designed for easy drinking rather than ageing. Merlot supplies the rounded fruit core; Cabernet brings a slightly firmer backbone that keeps the wine from being soft.

A Bottle To Understand It

The Rosato IGT Trevenezie is the right first bottle from Fossa Mala. It is a dry salmon-pink rosé, half Merlot and half Cabernet Sauvignon, cool-fermented and lightly macerating for colour only. Strawberry and raspberry on the nose, dry and lightly structured in the mouth, with a clean acid finish. It is a warm-plain wine made to drink young, and it shows clearly what the Fiume Veneto vineyard does with these two varieties on its river-clay soils.

Anecdote

In October 2025, the Roncadin family sat down with Cantina Rauscedo and agreed to hand over Cantina RR, the winemaking and bottling arm they had built alongside their vineyards since 2003. Kanada SpA, the family company, completed the transfer. Rauscedo, one of the largest cooperatives in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, took control of production management. What the Roncadin family kept was the land: all 36 hectares of vine on the Fiume Veneto plain, the 203,000 plants, the old villa sitting in the middle of the estate. They are now grape growers supplying a cooperative rather than an independent producer taking wine to the bottle. It is a common trajectory in Italian wine, and it happened quickly enough that most of Fossa Mala's existing export customers may not yet know.

Final Word

Fossa Mala is a working Grave del Friuli estate with flat river-clay land in Fiume Veneto, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, and a dry rosé that travels well under the IGT Trevenezie label. The 2025 production arrangement with Cantina Rauscedo changes who makes the wine but not who grows the grapes. For now, the Rosato remains the bottle to reach for.

Sources

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