Last week I took you on a journey to my most recent trip to Italy to the Collio wine area within the Friuli Venezia Giulia wine region in northeastern Italy. This week I’m digging into two of Collio’s native grapes, Ribolla Gialla and Friulano. I have long been a proponent of the white wines of northern Italy, but diving into the Collio wine region I developed a deeper appreciation for the quality of wines that are produced in this small, under the radar region. To experience the quality, passion and endless drive of the producers to express their unique identity and typicity of what makes the Collio so special will draw you into this region.
Throughout the 3 days in Collio I traveled throughout the hilly countryside from one side of Collio to the other fully immersed in the food and wines. Myself, along with a few other wine journalists, were led through multiple focused tastings by local wine expert and contributor to Decanter magazine, Richard Baudains. Let’s cover Collio’s native grapes, Friulano and Ribolla Gialla.
Left to right: Sebastian Salvini, export manager @ Skok with Richard Baudains @ Skok winery
Friulano Grape
My first focused tasting was at the Skok winery in San Floriano del Collio tasting 10 of the Friulano DOC Collio wines. Friulano is the only grape produced in every winery in Collio occupying about 500 acres of the area. Friulano is known in the grape registry as Tocai Friulano, but as of 2007 the European court ruled that only the
This Article was originally published on Vino Travels Italy
