We cross the Slovenian border for the first time to fill up, because petrol is much cheaper in the neighbouring country. We notice that many Italians also take advantage of this offer when we see the long queues in front of the petrol pumps. Later, the sat nav sends us for about 30 kilometres through a gentle, green hilly landscape and sleepy Slovenian villages that have their own, somewhat dusty charm. We are on our way to the Carso area, the last destination of our journey.
The small appellation borders Collio to the north and Croatian Istria to the south. Here, mainly white wines are produced from the autochthonous white varieties Vitovska and Malvasia Istriana as well as the red Terrano. In this part of the region, too, many winegrowers also have international varieties such as Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio in their assortment.
In Prepotto in the municipality of Duino Aurisina (not to be confused with Prepotto in the Colli Orientali) we visit Benjamin Zidarich.
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| The Vitovska grape variety originates from Slovenia. (Source: Merum) |
The likeable winemaker radiates an almost stoic composure. He doesn't let anything get him down and doesn't shy away from hard work and tedious tasks: he spent almost nine years digging his new rock cellar. It is hewn five storeys deep into the grey karst stone. You have never seen anything like it! Twisting, dark corridors in which you can lose yourself. It's cool and damp down there, the dim vaults seem a bit spooky, like something out of an underground mythical world. "We first removed the rock, then transported it away and then processed it into stones. Later, these stones were used to build the winery," he says proudly. A visit to Zidarich is worthwhile for this unique construction alone.
Benjamin Zidarich: "In the Carso, the soil is particularly valuable. We lack deep, large-scale arable land; after only half a metre of soil, you come across hard rocky ground here. Only a few soils can be used for agriculture. The vineyard area is therefore very small, with yields averaging only 5,000 kilos of grapes per hectare."
The vineyards in the Carso are influenced by both the sea breeze and the bora, the dry, cold downdraft wind that sweeps across Trieste and the Adriatic coast at speeds of up to 200 kilometres per hour, especially in the winter months. Zidarich: "On the one hand, the winds are a great advantage for us, as they mean that we have fewer vine diseases and have to spray less copper and sulphur. On the other hand, they wear away our precious soils."
Quality wines have not existed here for long; vintners have only been bottling for about 30 years. The best-known of them, Edi Kante, on the other hand, has been producing top quality since the end of the 1970s.
Zidarich: "We mainly grow Vitovska, which is only available in Carso. Our wines are bottled after two years at the earliest." Like his colleagues from Oslavia, he also ferments his whites with the skins, but only lets them macerate for about two weeks. The strong yellow of his Vitovska almost resembles the colour of conventional white wines. Only the slight cloudiness shows that no clarification or filtration is used. The wines are slender and taut, they have a pronounced freshness and aromas reminiscent of stone fruit and citrus fruits, their fine tannin and lively acidity ensure light-footedness and vigour at the same time.
Trieste is right in the middle of it! How in the middle of it, you may ask. In Friuli? In Italy? No, in the middle of Europe! Trieste was the melting pot of Central Europe; in the past, the most diverse cultures, religions and population groups met here, and they all left their mark. Since 1382, the city was Austria's most important trading port; only after the First World War was it formally assigned to Italy.
With Slovenia's entry into the European Union in 2004, the last border between East and West finally fell, bringing Trieste back to the centre of Europe. No other city fascinated us as much as multicultural Trieste. The unique view from the hotel window onto the beautiful Piazza dell'Unità d'Italia is just as unforgettable as the cosmopolitan atmosphere of the city, its imposing architecture, its historic cafés, where James Joyce and Rainer Maria Rilke already found inspiration, or the snow-white Miramare Castle, which Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria had built for himself and his wife Charlotte.
A stroll along the harbour will make you long for faraway places: The large, fully loaded container ships sail to Hong Kong, Tokyo or New York. In the evening, the large squares of the city centre fill up with young people meeting for an aperitif or just a chat.
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| Trieste is a lively% multicultural port city. (Source: Merum) |
When we started our journey in Pordenone in the west, we were looking for a common denominator with which Friuli could be understood and communicated... At the latest in Collio, the famous hilly landscape on the border of Slovenia, we gave up our ambitious goal. It became clear to us that the region of Friuli Venezia Giulia could not be seen as a unified whole and certainly could not be attributed only one identity!
Friuli as a wine region is difficult to grasp, we have to accept that. There is not one variety or one wine that characterises the region, but countless ones. The winegrowers produce wines from autochthonous varieties that no one abroad knows, as well as wines that are in demand internationally.
From the plains come leaner everyday wines, from the hill areas character wines of top quality. Friuli can thus satisfy just about every wine lover with its range of wines, but it lacks a clear, tangible identity. This is where inspiring Sauvignons can be made, but also wonderful Friulano. Malvasia Istriana thrives here just as well as Merlot.
There is no way to change the diversity of grape varieties so quickly, although examples like Schiopetto or Edi Keber show that it is quite possible to concentrate on fewer varieties and be successful with them. Of course, this requires time and careful consideration. But if winegrowers want to focus more on the foreign market, in the long run they have no choice but to reduce their assortment, even if this temporarily leads to the loss of some customers. Edi Keber is the best example of this. With his only white wine, he follows the formula "One territory, one wine!"
To Part I of the report: "Small country of a thousand wines"
Part II of the report: "The Grave: Soy, Maize and... Wine"
Part III of the report: "Is Friulano the future?
Part IV of the report: "The wine from the hills"
Part V of the report: "Ribolla Gialla is booming"
All producers from Friuli in the wine guide
To the magazine article "White treasures of the soil
To the "BEST OF Friuli white" (PDF document)
This article was made available to us by the Merum editorial team. Find out more about Merum, the magazine for wine and olive oil from Italy, here:
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