Ep. 1676 Verduzzo Friulano By Annie Replogle | Italian Grape Geek

The Italian wine podcast is the community driven platform for Italian winegeeks around the world. Support the show by donating at italian wine podcast dot com. Donate five or more Euros, and we'll send you a copy of our latest book, my Italian Great Geek journal. Absolutely free. To get your free copy of my Italian GreatGeek journal, click support us at italian wine podcast dot com, or wherever you get your pods. Welcome to the Italian Great Geek podcast. Join us as we explore personal stories of travel and tasting with Italy's must know grape for idols. Chart your own course with my Italian Great Geek journal, your personal tasting companion to accompany the series. Available now on Amazon with thanks to Colangelo and partners for their generous support with this project. Hi. I'm Annie. Welcome back. Now we're going to delve into Virtuso Friolano. As the name suggests, the Artuzzo Friuilano is from Frulli Venezia, Julia, the northeast Italian region bordering Austria, Slovakia, and the Adriatic Sea. The name that Artuzzo is thought to come from the Italian word verde, meaning green, possibly referring to the grapes vibrant green color when it's still on the vine. The grape is distinct from vertuso Trebijiano of the Veneto and has two sub varieties, verdutso jalo and verdutso verde. This versatile grape is native to the region and is known for producing a wide range of styles, but it's most famous for its prized dessert wines. In the vineyard, it's not a very vigorous variety. While it's resistant to botrytis, it's sensitive to downy mildew and needs very well exposed sites with low humidity. Soils that are lower in water retention, such as marrow, are also essential. Verduco verde is mainly grown in friuli's flatland vineyards and is used to make drier wines, whereas verduco jalo performs best on the steep hillsides and commonly produces sweet wines from air dried grapes typical of the Romandolo, DOCG. Verduco Jalo reigned superior given its perceived higher quality, and therefore it's resulted in a decline of Verduco verde plantings. In the glass, it's medium lemon in color with beautiful notes of citrus, sweet almond, and white flowers. And what particularly intrigues me about the verdutso frijulano grape is its versatility. It can be used to produce such a wide range of styles from dry to light and delicately sweet to even thick and very sweet. So there's a lot to explore in terms of flavor profiles. Tends to be dry or off dry lighter bodied and delicate with citrus y floral characteristics. The other hand produces a fuller body, tannic sweet wine that's rich with ripe apricot, dried fig, orange peel, honey, and caramelized nutty notes. My personal favorite. Ramanalo DOCGs exclusively for sweet wines produced from the air dried grapes. One of the magical aspects of the is its ability to maintain really good acidity, even when fully ripen. And this characteristic contributes to the balance in both dry and sweet styles of the wine. Dryer styles tend to pair really well with seafood dishes whereas the sweeter styles are a good match for desserts or even aged cheeses like a parmigiano, pecorino, Gorgonzola or Blue cheese. Some benchmark producers, other Dutso Friolano, include Libya Feluga, Larunkaya, Scubla, Rason, and Mario Chicchini. Ironically, the first time I ever tried, was not in Frulli, Vanessa Julia. It was in Pullia. I was dining al fresco by the sea. It was a beautiful evening. At the end of the meal, we were served an array of Italian cheeses alongside a glass of Levio Fudugas, derduso Friolano dessert wine. And after one sip, I was immediately in heaven. I remember how luscious yet fresh the wine was. It was impeccably balanced, and it really proved to be the perfect ending to an already fantastic meal. Part of my learning about Verzuzo Friolano involved learning about the regions where it grows as well. In particular, Romandolo, I learned that the Romandolo wine tradition dates back to the seventeenth century. So it's actually one of the oldest wine production areas in all of Freuleven at Sea, Julia. And the vineyards of Romandolo are situated on these really steep terrace slopes of the eastern hills in friuli, and there's a really unique microclimate, partially influenced by the nearby Julian Alps. And it really contributes to the distinctive character of the wines. In fact, Verlutso Frulano is the only grape variety permitted in the production of Romandolo docG wines, and the grapes are harvested did late in the season often in November, which allows them to develop these rich sugars and concentrated flavors. And then the wine is made using the passito method. So the grapes are picked, and then they're dried on these straw mats after harvest to really further concentrate the sugars, the flavors, and this in turn contributes to the wine's luscious sweetness and complexity, which I absolutely adore. Listen to the Italian wine podcast wherever you get your podcasts. We're on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, HimalIFM, and more. Don't forget to subscribe and break the show. If you enjoy listening, please consider donating through Italian wine podcast dot com. Any amount helps cover equipment, production, and publication costs. Until next time.