Friuli

Land in competition.

Rome, Byzantium, Venice, Napoleon and the Habsburgs of the KuK monarchy Austria-Hungary, they all fought again and again for this region. Thus the former border river Isonzo gained bloody fame. The present border between Friuli and Slovenia was drawn at a green table and is unnatural. How one can notice clearly on the spot also at the languages. Because the people of Collio and Brda, as they say on the Slovenian side, never really accepted this border. Also in times of the iron curtain there was a lot of trade here - and the grapes of some Pinot Grigios in our trendy restaurants came in the 1980s and 90s of the night secretly over the green border.

When wine lovers rave about Friuli, they usually mean the smallest area - Collio. Because the winegrowers from the border region to Slovenia around Cormons have always been able to convince, and this for centuries. They survived all wars and closed borders and always produced great wines. The fact that the Austrians still miss it with pleasure and a bit wistfully as a former crown land, and therefore always like to visit it as pleasure tourists, has of course also helped to always stay in conversation. But even that only works with quality.

Why the largest area in terms of area, Friuli-Grave, the vast land between Udine and Pordenone above the legendary Adriatic tourist resorts such as Lignano, receives relatively little attention in comparison is actually a mystery. Because here, too, there were always good wines. After all, almost half of all DOC wines come from the approximately 6,500 hectares of vineyards in this region.

People in Friuli like to experiment.

The best Italian wine growers come from here. The best orange wines too, by the way. Friuli is top in breeding, more than half of the young vines planted in Italy come from here. Simonite & Sirch is known all over the world. The two winegrowers came to the conclusion that many diseases and growth problems in the vineyards were caused by poor "blood circulation" arise. Very simplified: When the rods of the poles are tied in shape, it often happens that the "veins"The leaves and grapes flow from the roots through the lifeblood, are bent and squeezed. The two friends from Friaul have specialised in keeping vineyards healthy - and today they are just as committed to Château Cheval Blanc as they are to South Africa or America. Rebdoctors from Friuli.

The region lies in the extreme northeast of Italy, bordering South Tyrol and Austria to the north, Slovenia to the west, Venice to the east and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. DOP wines already account for about half of the total production in Friuli-Venezia Giulia. There are 4 DOCG and 12 DOC regions. And almost all of them have an incredible range of grape varieties on offer. It is not easy to see through this - and is probably simply because there are many lone fighters in Friuli whose areas are scattered all over the place. The employees of the Consorzien do not have it easy to find a "togetherness" to pursue.

"We're all stubborn thick skulls." a well-known winemaker once said. Lovable thick skulls, we add. A total of 180 million litres of wine are produced annually in the large region. This is about 3.6% of the total Italian wine production. Friuli Venezia Giulia has more than 24,000 hectares of vineyards, divided into completely different areas. From the flat to hilly west, where clay, gravel and gravel soils, Grave = alluvial land, produced by the rivers that cross the region from the mountains in the north, over the Mediterranean influenced flatter regions along the Adriatic beaches from Lignano to Grado - up to the steep vineyards in the east, the Colli Orientali, the Isonzo Valley, as well as the Collio up to the crazy rocky landscapes of the karst between Gorizia and Trieste.

The great variety of grape varieties.

Many small family vineyards still cultivate ancient, little-known grape varieties and, of course, in the larger regions, international varieties from Chardonnay and Sauvignon to Cabernet and Merlot have long since become completely normal - even in small family businesses. But the regional, autochthonous grape varieties have never been forgotten. This is how this enormous diversity came about over the course of time. The most important white grape varieties are: Bianchetta Trevigiana, Chardonnay, Glera (formerly Prosecco), Malvasia, Moscato Giallo, Müller-Thurgau, Picolit, Pinot Bianco, Pinot Grigio, Ribolla Gialla, Riesling, Sauvignon, Friulano or Tai (formerly Tocai Friulano), Ribolla Gialla, Traminer Aromatico (Gewürztraminer), Verdiso, Verduzzo Friulano and Vitovska. The main red wines are Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère, Franconia, Merlot, Pignolo, Pinot Nero, Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso, Schioppettino and Tazzelenghe. SUPERIORE.DE