Open days in the wineries of Friuli Venezia Giulia

Food

19 July 2017

Food

Open days in the wineries of Friuli Venezia Giulia

The incredible variety of landscape in Friuli Venezia Giulia includes, among other features, soft hills covered with vineyards, dotted here and there with characteristic little villages. The exposure at midday is perfect for the high-quality cultivation of vines: it is here that some of the best wines in the world are produced: Pinot, Tocai Friulano, Sauvignon, Cabernet, Merlot, Ramandolo, Picolit.

One of the best moments to dive into this countryside and enjoy the wines is during the Cantine Aperte (Open Wine Cellars) event, organised by Movimento Turismo del Vino, during which you can peep behind the ‘stage’ of wineries usually closed to the public, tasting zero-kilometre products and matching them to the most characteristic and tasty dishes of our territory.

The event takes place every year at the end of May, when spring begins to give way to the summer and the hottest and longest days. The tasting ticket costs € 7, and it allows you to taste the wines in all the cellars participating in the event, with the branded goblet of the event. I visited two wineries: Villa Russiz and Rocca Bernarda, the first located in the Collio (in the province of Gorizia close to the border with Slovenia), the second on the Colli Orientali del Friuli (the line of hills in the province of Udine).

Villa Russiz is located in Capriva del Friuli and immediately strikes for its regal yet simple appearance, standing out against the surrounding green. Here I tasted a Tocai Friulano, Cabernet and Prosecco, combined with the “Piatto Cantine Aperte”: cured San Daniele ham, Dentesano cooked ham, Montasio cheese, grated horseradish and pear chutney.

Rocca Bernarda, at Ipplis di Premariacco, is a fortified residence dating back to the 1500s set in the hills and surrounded by a park. Among the various tastings we particularly enjoyed the Brut and Prosecco Extra Dry.

Apart from the taste buds in ecstasy, what makes me fall in love with Friuli Venezia Giulia more every day is its variety. When you are immersed in the hills covered with vineyards, you do not realise that you are just a few miles from the city, from sunny beaches or snowy mountains. Yet when you roll along the main roads, you only need to make a small detour to be somewhere very different.