Tocai Friulano (Sauvgnon Vert)

We're creating a controversy today. While this one of the white grapes of Friuli in Italy, the European Court of Justice ruled in 2007 that the grape could no longer carry the Tocai part of the name lest it be confused with Tokaji, the famous Hungarian dessert wine made largely from Furmint. So, in various parts of Europe, the grape is known as Friulano while in other areas, it is known as Sauvignon Vert. However, in much of the US, for example, grapes that are called Sauvignon Vert are really Muscadelle and that is not what we want to drink today, so we are sticking with the old name.

So, European Court of Justice, we are going today to where we want to drink Tocai Friulano and that is what we are calling it. We're back in the Gorizia Hills, but on the Italian side in Friuli.

The region has been war-torn in times both ancient and modern. In World War I, it was a major theater of operations particularly around Trieste and in World War II, the same areas were the subject of border wars. The wines here have the influence of Germany as well as the eastern European former Yugoslav republics, particularly Slovenia much more so than they are like what we would typically think of as Italian wines.

While the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region is generally temperate, in the Gorizia Hills, even in the valleys, the summers are cool and the winters have frequent snow. Soils here, while quite permeable, are often quite barren and do not protect the roots well.

Tocai Friulano typically harvests lat  producing a white wine that is quite high in alcohol (15% ABV is not unheard of). Light-bodied and extremely acidic, we get lots of crushed stone as well as herbs and white flower surrounded by white peach and hints of grapefruit.

The beauty of Tocai Friulano, however, is in its ability to pear with foods you just can't pear with. Need a wine to pair with artichokes? Tocai Friulano. Need one to pair with boiled cabbage? Tocai Friulano. Asparagus? Tocai Friulano.




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