This little-known region may have Italy’s best wines
In Friuli, white wine is the specialty. But there’s much more to this region bordering Austria, Slovenia, and the Adriatic Sea.
Late afternoon sun highlights vineyards blanketing a hillside in Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy.Photograph by Thomas Linkel, Redux
ByRobert Draper
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It was around noon on a sunny autumn weekday when I first walked into the Enoteca di Cormons, hoping to get directions to a nearby winery. I’d sought out the town’s wine bar after a two-hour train ride from Venice, where I was living while writing a novel. A Venetian restaurant I frequented had served me a Pinot Grigio from an Italian region called Friuli Venezia Giulia, situated to the east, next to Slovenia, so explained the waiter. The wine, made by a small winery called Venica, was so delicious that I decided I should visit it. That was the sole purpose of my journey to Cormons 25 years ago. I was not primed for any deeper discovery. I was n