The Best Italian Wine Region You’ve Never Heard Of
Thursday, November 29th, 2018 | BLOG | No Comments
The Best Italian Wine Region You’ve Never Heard Of
The world does not yet come to the Friuli region, and so much the better
The world is now discovering Friuli’s wines. It’s now widely understood that Italy’s finest white wines are produced here…that the region’s equidistance from the Austrian Alps to the north and the Adriatic Sea to the south has created a sunny and breezy micro-climate that conspires with the marlstone soil to yield grapes of astonishing fragrance and minerality.
Like a glass of Venica Pinot Grigio, the wines tremble on the tongue but are finally focused and persistent…a silver bullet to the palate, the very opposite of the buttery California Chardonnays Americans tend to associate with white wine. The label reads VENICA, the name of the producer, COLLIO…the word just below. Collio is a derivation of the Italian word for “hill” and the preeminent winegrowing district in the region just east of Venice, Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Drinking it is like taking the first bite into a ripe golden apple, piercingly tart. Are you even aware that there is any more east to go in Italy after Venice?
It happens that excellent red wines are also made here…particularly Merlots of surprising power and elegance…along with daring “orange wines” fermented in ceramic amphorae. Friuli wines evoke a place that remains as fresh and untrammeled as the region itself. The world still does not come to Friuli. No tourist buses, no guides with hoisted flags, no selfie sticks contaminate the region.