Italy — wine

Friuli Venezia Giulia

Italy's most complex and internationally celebrated white wine region — the northeastern Italian border zone between the Alps, the Adriatic, and Slovenia, producing an extraordinary diversity of indigenous and international white varieties from the Collio, Colli Orientali, and Isonzo sub-zones. Friulano (formerly Tocai), Ribolla Gialla, Malvasia Istriana, Verduzzo, and Picolit are the key indigenous whites; Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and Pinot Bianco are also produced at high quality. The region is also the global birthplace of the orange wine movement — Stanko Radikon and Josko Gravner's skin-contact Ribolla Gialla wines in the 1990s sparked a worldwide phenomenon.

Year Rating Notes
2022 Outstanding Friuli vintage; Collio and Colli Orientali whites showed extraordinary aromatic complexity and the mineral freshness of the ponca limestone marl soils.
2021 Classic vintage; Alpine influence produced whites of excellent natural acidity and the characteristic fresh herb-mineral character of great Friulano and Ribolla.
2020 Benchmark year; Gravner and Radikon orange wines received extraordinary international attention; Jermann Vintage Tunina of unusual concentration.
2019 Outstanding vintage; Friulano from ponca marl showed extraordinary complexity; orange wine movement's international explosion drove Collio prices higher.
2018 Warm vintage producing generous Friuli of good body; skin-contact wines particularly successful; ponca marl maintained freshness in the heat.