wein.plus
Attention
You are using an old browser that may not function as expected.
For a better, safer browsing experience, please upgrade your browser.

Log in Become a Member

Friuli - a little-known wine region, but one that is almost on Switzerland's doorstep. Only "almost", because in between stretches the region of Trentino-South Tyrol. Even a speck of Veneto slips in between. The South Tyrolean Wine Road - language border region between German and Italian - does not dismiss the curious wine lover so quickly, unless he has the most famous, probably even the best white wine region of Italy as his goal: Friuli-Venezia Giulia. I have only been to this most north-eastern region of Italy twice so far. On those occasions - forgive me - I didn't even notice the vines.

The Wine Regions of Italy

But back then - it was many years ago - I wasn't on the road "for" wine. Rather, I was there to report on the reconstruction of Friuli after the 1976 earthquake, which left almost 1,000 dead and 50,000 buildings destroyed. Since then, I have never been there again, until, yes, just recently - but this time only in my imagination, namely on my first encounter with wines from Friuli. "Tavolata per gli amici del buongusto" is the name of an event that was recently set up on my trip to Australia. Proof that wine can also connect people worldwide. On this trip, I was with more beer drinkers than wine drinkers. And so it happened that a couple, who also ordered wine with their meal every day, guessed our "good taste" and arranged a reunion at home at a "tavolata". So I blundered from Australia via Switzerland to Friuli completely unprepared.

A "Tavolata" as a prelude to a culinary journey to Friuli

The "Tavolata" - organised by "Kochwerk", which specialises in culinary events - promises "pure pleasure with a spring menu". The promise is kept. Here are a few of the nine courses: "Potato mousse on peas with the smallest fried egg and tomato coulis", "Tiramisù of asparagus and morels with jellied lettuce leaf and crème fraîche with herbs" or "Lamb gigot with green mashed potatoes and red asparagus with red wine jus". Who's mouth doesn't water at that? Well, I was actually expecting a gourmet meal - based on the announcement. But the fact that it far surpasses the level of many "bonnet kitchens" is a real surprise. But the surprise is even greater with the wines, all of them from Friuli. For the aperitif, a white grape variety that I have never drunk before: "Tocai Friulano", an autochthonous vine that is mainly cultivated in northern Italy, but according to EU standards can only be called that in Friuli.

"Tocai Friulano"% First encounter with Friuli

A nice but unfamiliar welcome: creamy, flattering, slightly bitter, hazelnut, fruity, dry... goes perfectly with the fish and seafood appetisers that are served. Where elsewhere - just with the gourmet and star chefs - at least Burgundy is poured, here a simple, beautiful and characterful wine from Friuli.

"Maybe it's a question of age, I've noticed lately that I'm becoming more and more sensitive when tasting. I try more and more to let my emotions flow into the tasting notes," one of my "favourite" wine merchants said recently and really spoke from my heart. I have to think about that now. The (outdated) image of the area around Udine pops into my head. What was it like there? Vines? "Colli orientali", literally "eastern hills", close to the Slovenian border, which was then still an "iron curtain"? In the meantime, I have read a thing or two about the wine region of Friuli, but I have never really noticed it.

Wines from Friuli% that awaken memories

Already the first glass animates, I start to get interested in the wine region that is actually so close by. I can read the facts: 1.3 million inhabitants, an area of 7.8 km², 17,000 ha of vines, capital Trieste. But what about the experience? Wine - if it is to represent a wine region - must also arouse emotions, must translate what is difficult to describe in words into images and fantasies. Another wine from Friuli is served with the spring-like dishes, the same producer, different grape variety: Sauvignon blanc, from the Nicola and Mauro Cencig winery in Manzano (Udine). The wine accompanies five courses; the usual potpourri of elaborate wine-cuisine philosophies is omitted.

Taglierini and salicorn with scampi colourfully edged

I'm grateful, so can get a bit more involved with the wine. A nice, but well-behaved Sauvignon. It holds back, giving way to the imaginative and flavourful courses. This allows me to devote myself entirely to the culinary arts and at the same time to the (for me) new wine region. The wine: intense fruit bouquet, aniseed, grapefruit, even passion fruit, refreshing acidity, slightly green notes, gooseberries... The same can undoubtedly be said of many Sauvignon blancs. It only gets interesting when you consider the vineyards: hilly, yes, mountainous landscape, light sea breezes, karst soils, Carnic and Julian Alps... Landscapes emerge from the wine, hazy memories, daring fantasies, with them the desire to immerse oneself in a wine region.

A wine region emerges from the fog of memory

It is above all the "Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso", 2009, served with the leg of lamb, that fires my imagination, a rather down-to-earth, almost somewhat coarse wine, the taste of black berries, blackberry, blueberry, to plums and almonds. Again a new experience, again a changed landscape. Gradually, Friuli becomes completely different, it becomes more and more removed from any reality, it becomes more and more immersed in the world of experience of wine enjoyment. And then something very strange happens: wines really become landscapes, very different through their characters and their intensity. The need arises to compare reality with fantasies. To see, to experience nature, the soil, the landscape. The desire arises - now as a wine lover - to visit Friuli in reality. So there I am travelling across Australia to find that a few hundred kilometres from home is a wine region that I want to get to know.

Sincerely

Yours/Yours

Related Magazine Articles

View All
More
More
More
More
More
More
More
More
More
More

EVENTS NEAR YOU

PREMIUM PARTNERS