The town of Udine in F-V G
DOC watch!
Be alert, all ye students of wine…Italy’s 334th DOC region has been proposed! If it is approved, the Friuli DOC (which, just to keep things interesting, will also be known as the Friuli-Venezia Giulia DOC) will be Italy’s 334th and Friuli’s 10th – as well as the 7th with the word “Friuli” in the name. (Lest we forget, Friuli-Venezia Giulia also has four DOCGs: Colli Orientali del Friuli Picolit DOCG, Lison DOCG, Ramandolo DOCG, and Rosazzo DOCG.)
According to the online e-zine “Italian Wine Chronicle,” a region-wide DOC has been in the works for Friuli since the 1970s, and is now “almost a reality.” The proposal has now entered into a 60-day comment period, after which the Consortium of the Friuli Venezia Giulia DOCs will give their final approval to the new DOC. (After that, of course, will come the [most likely very long] period of waiting for EU approval). However, the Consortium is confident we may soon see Friuli DOC wines, perhaps upon the release of the region’s 2016 vintage.
Vineyards in Friuli
The proposed Friuli DOC would cover all of the area in the southern portion of Friuli-Venezia Giulia; in other words, just about all of the area suitable for viticulture (the northern portion being taken up by the foothills and mountains of the Alps). The new DOC would not impact the existing DOCs, but will instead offer an alternative label as well as the possibility of making regionally-sourced DOC wines.
The Friuli DOC will likely be approved for dry whites, dry reds, and sparkling wines (Traditional Method or tank) from a long list of grape varieties. These styles of wine (as well as frizzante wines, rosés, and dessert wines) are produced in many parts of the region. There will be one style of wine unique to the Friuli DOC, however–the way the rules are written, the new DOC will be allowed to produced sparkling wines using the Ribolla Gialla grape variety (something which is not permitted in any of the existing DOCs or DOCGs in Friuli-Venezia Giulia)1
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The wines of Friuli-Venezia Giulia are not too well-known internationally, although fans of Italian wine would agree that they are among the most diverse, delicious, and impressive of Italian wines. The region is particularly renowned for its white wines, as well as its traditional orange wines and oxidized wines made from the indigenous Ribolla Gialla grape variety.
For the adventurous, here is some Friuli-Venezia Giulia Wine “not-so-trivia”:
- What three DOC/DOCG regions in Friuli-Venezia Giulia are shared with the Veneto?
- What type of wine is produced in the Ramandolo DOCG?
- What type of wine is produced in the Rosazzo DOCG?
- What (currently) are the six DOCs of Friuli-Venezia Giulia that have the word “Friuli” in their name?
- Two of the DOCGs of Friuli-Venezia Giulia overlap with similarly-named DOCs. What are they, and what type of wines do they produce?
Click here for the answers: DOC Watch – Friuli not-so-trivia Answers
1 http://italianwinecentral.com/friuli-italys-next-doc/
References:
- Robinson, Jancis, Julia Harding and José Vouillamoz: Wine Grapes. New York, 2012: Harper Collins Publishers
- Robinson, Jancis and Julia Harding: The Oxford Companion to Wine, 4rd Edition. Oxford, 2015: The Oxford University Press
- http://italianwinecentral.com/friuli-italys-next-doc
- http://italianwinecentral.com/region/friuli-venezia-giulia/
- http://www.italianwinechronicle.com/doc-friuli-almost-reality
- http://www.welcomeoffice.fvg.it/friuli-venezia-giulia.aspx
- http://www.laroncaia.it/en/
- http://www.pizzini.com.au/pizzini/
post authored by Jane A. Nickles…your blog administrator
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