Friuli Venezia-Giulia: In Search of an Identity 

BY LAURA BRUNO | JANUARY 24, 2024

In the initial stages of the fellowship process with Vinous, I had composed a list of regions I was interested in writing about. In addition to my top areas of interest, I offered a supplemental shortlist of honorable mentions. One of those was Friuli Venezia-Giulia. I had casually included it with the potential to discuss skin contact. After some research, it became clear that a piece about the area was long overdue. Widespread opinions on land usage, farming practices, grape selection and cultural issues fueled by a war-torn past eclipsed the world-class production happening in the area. The closer I looked at Friuli, the more interesting it became. Despite being a professional wine buyer, I realized that my perception of the region was narrow and inaccurate. A place I once understood as a Pinot Grigio and orange wine haven is a patchwork of fine wine producers struggling to form an identity on a global stage. 

To gain a well-rounded perspective, I visited sixteen wineries over a week spent in the region. I ensured I spoke with producers whose production ranged from 2,000 bottles yearly to 2,000,000. I met with winemakers on the hills, plains and on the Slovenian side of the border to truly understand the fabric of the landscape. I tried to find a common thread that could be used as a basis for readers to understand and digest the region's wines.

Over time, a common thread never became crystal clear. Producers of differing mindsets had fallen into silos, with many acknowledging that cliques demarcated the various types of production. Focusing on the wines when met with a dizzying amount of discussion about personalities admittedly became a challenge. While navigating the social fragility in the area, two significant discussions were the most pressing: varietal selection and skin contact. Without taking sides, I hope to provide a valuable perspective on the wines and their quality, sifting through the tension while outlining and acknowledging some rather important conversations that warrant attention.

A view of the Collio region from Dolegna del Collio. 

Contextualizing the Landscape

Modern-day Friuli Venezia-Giulia has exchanged hands many times over multiple centuries. This Italian region, profoundly influenced by Austria and the Slavic nations, suffered immensely during the 20th century. 

The territory, which included the area across the Italian and Slovenian border, when part of Austria, was the most southern and one of the only areas warm enough for fruit production. After WWI, Friuli Venezia-Giulia, in its entirety, became part of Italy. Within a span of just a few years, the context of the region changed. Once prized for its agriculturally hospitable landscape, the Italian territory of Friuli Venezia-Giulia was now a relatively tricky wet and cold area compared to its newfound southern siblings. Friuli Venezia-Giulia's edge came from its ability to produce still white wines, a task warmer regions struggled with. 

The wars left more than just physical damage to the land in the region. Emerging from recently settled rubble, Friuli Venezia-Giulia has found itself, in essence, a part of the New World: with no collective historical roots and a future that is undefined. As a result, the region faces challenges I often notice plaguing areas in their infancy; it is like starting from zero after each new invasion. Very few maps demarcating soil patterns exist. In Collio, the heart and most well-known of Friuli Venezia-Giulia appellations, a staggering 18 different grape varieties are eligible to be labeled DOC. In other areas where production is cheaper, the land is sellout plantings of Glera (today, 4,528 hectares are allowed for production under the Prosecco DOC) for neighbor's more affordable Prosecco production. Lack of educational materials, no clear variety focus and commercialized flooding of easily farmable land have proven to be a recipe for market confusion.