Friuli-Venezia Giulia

Friuli-Venezia Giulia

At Italy's north-eastern edge, on the border with Slovenia and Austria, lies the region often called the spiritual home of Italian white wine.

Cool air spilling down from the Alps meets the warmth of the Adriatic, and the marl hills known as ponca etch taut acidity and minerality into native grapes such as Friulano, Ribolla Gialla and Malvasia.

It was on the slopes of Collio and the Colli Orientali, too, that Radikon, Gravner and others opened the way for the orange wine revolution.

Latin, Germanic and Slavic - three cultures meet at the table here, and the whites honed alongside that cooking come fully into their own with San Daniele prosciutto or a mountain cheese. Enjoy the complex, patrician flavours that only a borderland can give.