‘What if Friulano’s true vocation was not as a monovariety at all, but as a component in a blend of local grapes?’

Tocai Friulano (as the variety used to be called) is not the most planted grape in Collio.

In terms of surface area, it has long since been overtaken by Pinot Grigio, which according to the latest figures represents a 25% share of the grapes grown in the DOC.

‘Tocai’ Friulano, on the other hand, accounts for only 15% of the total, and with its 185 hectares ranks only third in the DOC hierarchy.

However, while it might not stack up the numbers in terms of total surface area, it is the most widely diffused variety – it is the one that every producer has, and the one with which Collio has always identified most closely.

While the Pinot Grigio from Collio travels the world, Friulano is a classic example of what used to be known as a ‘vino tipico’, a wine from a native variety with a long tradition and a distinctive character, but often with the commercial handicap of a predominantly local consumption.

You will find it chalked up on the board of every osteria in the province of Gorizia, but you are less likely to see it on wine lists outside the region.

Market research commissioned by the Collio consorzio in 2025 revealed that 40% of the Italians interviewed had never heard of Friulano, and a further 25% said they recognised the name but were not aware that the wine was produced in the Collio.

Friulano deserves better, because it has all the positives of a ‘vino tipico’: great personality, great sense of place, and producers who make it with passion and commitment.

Friulano's origins

The Italian origins of Friulano are shrouded in mystery, but they are relatively recent.

Little was written about this variety, commonly referred to as ‘Tokaj’ or ‘Tokay’, until the early- to mid-20th century, when it was found growing in the eastern plains of the Veneto and later in the hills of Friuli.

It was only in 1933 that the ampelographer Giovanni Dalmasso proposed the name, ‘Tocai Friulano’, to distinguish it from the Tokaj/Tokay (Friulano) grown in the near-by Veneto (where it is also still grown).

All the texts of the period refer to it as a foreign variety, but none hazard a guess at its origins.

That part of the mystery was resolved in the 1980s by the researchers Antonio Calò and Angelo Costacurta, who discovered that Friulano was none other than the Sauvignonasse or Sauvignon Vert once grown in Bordeaux, but long since abandoned in France.

How it got to Italy, perhaps nobody will ever know.

Style and character

Friulano is a vigorous variety, fairly resistant to most vine diseases, but due to its thin skins is terribly susceptible to harvest-time botrytis in rainy vintages.

It is potentially generous in its yields, and needs to be contained by short pruning and planting on lean hillside sites.

Picked at full ripeness and vinified conventionally, it makes a wine with delicate fruit, floral aromas which recall acacia and lime blossom, and a fingerprint note of bitter almonds.

It tends to have relatively low total acidity and high pH, with medium to high alcohol, all of which combine to give a glossy texture which is balanced by the minerally finish typical of the wines of the Collio.

The variety is very sensitive to location and harvest timing: higher, cooler slopes and earlier picking bring out the fresher, more Sauvignon-like side of its character, while warmer sites favour wines with more richness on the palate.

For the former style, look to producers from villages such as Ruttars and Dolegna; and for the riper, fuller-bodied wines, Capriva and Cormons.

And the perfect balance of the two? Perhaps the hilltop village of San Floriano.

Evolution

Collio is evolving, and Friulano with it. A young generation of producers is coming to the fore, (the newly-elected president of the producers’ consortium, Luca Raccaro, is the youngest ever in the role at 34) bringing with it new ideas.

Some of this change is seen in the new approach to vinification. The use of maceration for shorter or longer periods is increasing and this has prompted the recent decision to introduce the wording ‘Vino da Uve Macerate’ on the label.

The naturally gentle tannins of Friulano make it an ideal candidate for the style.

In another direction, there are producers who are moving to align with contemporary trends, aiming for a more reductive less aromatic style that’s drier, tighter, more mineral, and lower in alcohol.

These examples make a break from the rich and fleshy Friulano of local traditions.

Friulano and friends

But what if Friulano’s true vocation was not as a monovarietal at all, but as a component in a blend of local grapes? In the original DOC of 1968, headline billing was given to Collio Bianco – or simply Collio – a blend of Friulano with fellow native varieties Ribolla Gialla and Malvasia Istriana.

This time-honoured combination saw Friulano contribute the body, Ribolla the acidity, and Malvasia the structure and aroma.

The production norms were liberalised in the 1990s to allow producers to use any blend of non-aromatic grapes in a personalised estate wine, which had a logic in the international super-wine context of the period, but sacrificed any sense of place.

Those same norms remain in place today, but there are moves to find a path back to the original formula.

The impetus has come largely from a group of young producers who have agreed a protocol for a traditional blend consisting of a minimum 50% Friulano, complemented by Ribolla and Malvasia, aged for at least 18 months, and labelled with the phrase ‘Da Uve Autoctone’ (From Local Grapes).

The project currently has a dozen adherents, who between them produce between 110,000 and 120,00 bottles, a number which is beginning to give visibility to the group’s instantly recognisable labels.

Whether as a monovarietal or in a blend that highlights the terroir of the Collio, recent tastings confirm that Friulano has the quality and the character to play a leading role in the future of the DOC, not only at local level, but in much wider contexts.

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