Vineyards and more in Friuli
Vineyards have always fascinated me because they can shape the countryside in a beautiful way: tidy rows that change their aspect as the seasons pass by.
Moreover – let’s be honest – wine is good, that’s it!
If you live in Italy vineyards are a common element that characterizes the landscape, and this is even more true in Friuli Venezia Giulia region which has a long-lasting wine culture.
Just to explain you how wine was part of everyday life in the past, I can tell you that almost every family in the countryside had its own vineyard that most of the time wasn’t particularly big, but gave enough grapes to obtain wine that the family home-produced and then consumed at lunch or dinner.
Harvesting was an important moment of the year in the countryside, an opportunity to stay together and enjoy life. Today vineyards growing and wine production in Friuli Venezia Giulia have become more professional: you’ll find big wineries that use modern tools to grow and harvest grapes and to produce wine.
Wines are now honored with ‘DOC‘ or ‘DOCG‘ labels that guarantee their quality.
If you visit Friuli Venezia Giulia and want to sip very good wine you may want to go to Collio: that is a gorgeous hill area on the eastern part of the region, near the border with Slovenia.
Collio is very famous because of its white wines: a long list of different names among which the most famous are Ribolla gialla, Friulano, Collio indeed, Chardonnay, Traminer and many others. Of course there are also red ones like the traditional Merlot and Cabernet.
You can visit the wineries, discover how wine is produced and enjoy delicious wine tastings.
Moreover you can take the bike or a Vespa and ride in the hilly landscape discovering the small villages of the area, the nice ‘osterie’ where to eat typical local dishes (like brovada or frico) or go to a ‘frasca’ rustic wineries where wine is served with home made products like salami and cheese.
Last tip: in your tour in Collio don’t forget to taste some ‘grappa‘ that is a traditional grape spirit. The best is to drink it while you eat some ‘gubana‘ another typical product of Friuli filled with walnuts, uva sultanina, grappa and pinoli.
