Friuli-Venezia Giulia

Small giants of Friuli

There is a view among wine connoisseurs that the best white wines in Italy are made in Friuli. But is that really so?

Friuli-Venezia Giulia – the northwest part of the land – is the only region with the prevalence of white wines that were famous all over Italy starting from the beginning of 1970s. That’s the location of the “Golden triangle of Italy” that includes the white wine appellations COF (Colli Orientali del Friuli), Collio Goriziano and Isonzo. Colli means “hills” in Italian. Rolling country, cool climate of northern Italy and proximity to the Adriatic help make the white wines more elegant and delicate. The best and oldest vineyards are situated on the Gorizia Hills right on the border with Slovenia (and the winemaking region Primorska).

Sadly, the region’s fame is just an homage to the past achievements. Nowadays big producers make average Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon blanc for export. These wines are just like the other mediocre wines from other regions in Italy, and there’s nothing interesting about drinking them. With a few exceptions. If you try hard enough, you can find the wines made from the local grape varieties Friulano, Ribolla Gialla, Verduzzo and Picolit.

Yeah, it’s not Marco Felluga or Jermann who produce the best wines. And neither is it other big winemakers. The best whites are born on small vineyards thank to the effort of fanatical vintners who make wines unlike any other.

If we are to talk about Friuli wines, we can’t fail to mention Josko Gravner. Starting from the 1980s Josko was the first who insisted on cutting the crop yield on the vineyards, the first who started experimenting with ageing in the bottle. In the 1990s he was recognized as the best winemaker in Friuli but he didn’t stop there, and rather continued his experiments trying to express the local terroir in the best way. After a trip to Georgia Josko completely remade his successful winery and started making the white à la reds: fermenting them on their skins and ageing in amphorae (large clay pots). He started putting wines on the market only after 5 years of ageing – only then, he thinks, they are ready for consuming. Biodynamics rule over the vineyard: all of Josko’s actions correlate to the lunar calendar.

Another example of the traditional Friuli winemaking is the Miani winery. The vintner Enzo Pontoni uses his 15ha vineyards to create wines that remind you of the best Burgundy in their delicacy.

And then, of course, we can’t forget the famous Slovenian winemaker – a ferocious biodynamist Ales Kristančič. His vineyards lie on the both sides of the Italy-Slovenia border with the winery situated in Slovenia. The white wine Veliko – an amazing blend of several grape varieties – conveys the local terroir like nothing else. His Pinot noir is more like a revelation than just wine. The sparkling Puro, meanwhile, is sold in bottles with the lees still in it. That way the wine can continue to ferment for 10 or more years, like the best Champagne.

We are certain that it is small-scale producers such as these that brought Friuli the fame of the best white wines in Italy. There is a lot of interesting here, and we are still discovering new names. But often it happens that the Friuli wines only bring disappointment. So don’t immediately rejoice when you see a bottle from this region!