Friuli’s Venezia Giulia is Italy's North-Eastern most region and sits in a melting pot zone where Italy, Slovenia and Austria converge. The land has traded hands many times, from Ancient Rome, to the Lombards, to Alpine Slavs, then the Franks, to The Habsburg Empire, then Napoleon and now unified Italy. I love wines from Friuli and they’re some of my favorites to introduce folks to as they pair beautifully with food, and represent the Alps and the Adriatic. There are seven different producers in this offer, all highlighting the terroir and tradition of Friuli. Some whites, reds, skin contact, and even a sparkling red!

Ronchi di Cialla

Ronchi di Cialla is a blenchmark producer of the Collio Orientali that needs no introduction. Dina and Paolo Rapuzzi are credited with bringing prestige back to native varieties like Ribolla Gialla, Verduzzo, Picolit, Schioppettino, and Pignolo. Their geography is quite unique, sitting in The Cialla valley, giving the winery its name but also its unique soil type and microclimate. A heavier presence of limestone in the valley as well as distinctly cooler temperatures gave Ronchi di Cialla monopole status for their top wines. Another exciting aspect of the winery is their dedication to holding wine back. Today on offer is their Ciallabianco 2014 and 2015, straight from the estate. The Ciallabianco is a blend of Ribolla Gialla, Verduzzo, and Picolit fermented and aged in old barriques and then long bottle aging.
 
Gravner

About twenty kilometers South-East from Ronchi di Cialla near the town of Oslavia and hugging the Slovenian border, sits Gravner. Josko Gravner is a man with a clear vision and distinctly simple yet iconic style. After an inspired trip to Georgia in 2000, he adopted the ancient technique of fermenting and aging wine in underground amphora. Gravner now only works with grape varieties indigenous to Friuli: on his website he even states the dates that he ripped up vines of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Pinot Grigio. In their place, he planted more Ribolla Gialla or simply reforested the land or used it as space for his animals (Tibetan Goats!). It’s obvious to me that Gravner loves nature, his land, his culture and works tirelessly on his beautiful wines. Today we are offering his 2016 Ribolla Gialla.

Paraschos 

A few kilometers South-West from Gravner is Paraschos. This project started because the Paraschos family owned a restaurant where they poured their neighbors' wines, namely Gravner. Now his sons Alexis and Jannis are a big part of the winery. I had the pleasure of meeting Jannis in the Fall and his passion for the land and the winemaking is clear. When Evangelos Paraschos started the winery in the 1990’s, he was able to acquire old vines of Merlot. If you are wondering about Merlot's identity in Friuli, it’s been in the region for around 200 years since Napoleon’s reign in the area. 
 
“That’s the character given by old vines, past 50 years of age, something beautiful happens to Merlot, and it starts to give these noble notes of truffle and humus.” -Alexis Paraschos.  Merlot's place in Friuli is clear, although it is a French grape it always makes me ponder what it means to be from a place. When do you become native, or are you forever a transplant?

Čotar

When I met the Čotar family in Fall 2025 at the Louis Dressner portfolio tasting, I had the privilege of (quickly) tasting through 10 wines. My main takeaway was that these wines perfectly represent their Karst land. The Karst is a limestone plateau stretching across the Italy-Slovenia border. Known for its red iron rich soils on top of limestone, wines from this zone have a distinct minerality. Today we have their 2013 Kras Rosso Terra Rossa and 2016 Vino Rosso Frizzante Črna underlined by that ferrous quality of the soils.

There are a few more wines on offer today from Zidarich, Vodopivec, and Doro Princic. More notes on each bottle below.
 
-Marisa Licandro