Friuli Venezia Giulia, along with South Tyrol, is certainly the best region for top white wines in Italy. Some critics and many wine lovers even consider it one of the best in the world. It should not be overlooked that from this region in the northeast of the country also come remarkable red wines.
Friuli-Venezia Giulia, mostly affectionately called simply Friuli by wine lovers and experts, is without question one of the great white wine regions of Europe. This is due to its ideal location in the northeast of Italy, bordered by Veneto to the west, Slovenia to the east, and Austria to the north. The fact that this region is so praised for its high-class white wines is due not only to the soil, but above all to the climate.
Here, mild maritime and Mediterranean currents meet cold air currents from the nearby Alps, and this delightful interplay provides the grapes with sufficient ripeness and on the other hand, a lively fresh acid structure. Friuli is also one of those regions that focused on quality early on.
A big push went through Friuli when Mario Schiopetto, today one of the icons of the region, introduced temperature-controlled fermentation in the 1960s. Nearly 20,000 hectares are under vines in Friuli, and they undoubtedly produce Italy's top white wines, along with those from Alto Adige.
The best wines come from the Collio and Colli Orientali sub-regions, but other communities such as Aquileia and Isonzo have caught up. The largest subregion here is Grave del Friuli, with less expensive but often less distinctive wines.
One of the most important white wine varieties is the indigenous Friulano, formerly marketed as Tocai Friulano. In a legal dispute between Hungary and the EU, however, it was then clarified that the name Tocai was too similar to those famous sweet wines from Tokaij, so this name addition for Friuli was dropped.
International varieties have also gained a foothold here and deliver remarkable wines, in addition to Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc there is also Pinot Bianco and Pinot Grigio, which is more characterful here than in other parts of Italy.
The fact that the winegrowers care far more intensively about quality than in some other regions of Italy can also be seen in the yields; the entire Friuli region supplies one of the smallest shares of the country's wine production, with just 1 - 1.4 million hectoliters per year.
Besides white wine, the production of high quality red wines should not be overlooked; Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir also provide remarkable red wines, in addition to those from the autochthonous variety Refosco. Friuli was also one of the nuclei of the "Orange Wines" movement, i.e. white wines fermented on the skins, analogous to red wines.
Josko Gravner and the Radikon winery are among the pioneers of this type of wine and today enjoy cult status among lovers of these wines.
Friuli was also, and still is, one of the hot spots of the famous Italian pomace distillate - grappa. In the process, the now legendary Nonino distillery virtually triggered a revolution. Not only because the grappa was freed from its rustic character through careful distillation and thus convinced even discerning connoisseurs, but also because the bottle and label design was excitingly new, set standards and subsequently found many imitators.
With its numerous top producers Friuli is today one of the absolute top regions of Italy.
