Friulano

Back when Tokaji (the great Hungarian sweet wine) was the best known wine in the World, or at least in the Austrian Empire which enveloped North-Eastern Italy, Friuli’s best grape variety adopted the name Tocai. Despite a few half-hearted back legends, there is/was no connection between the northern Italian grape variety and the Hungarian dessert wine (or, indeed, that other Tokaji name nicker Tokay d’Alsace). The European Union, particularly after the accession of Hungary, took a dim view of such historical plagiarism and insisted that the name was changed. So Tocai became the temporary compromise of Tocai Friulano and, then from the 2007 vintage, just Friulano. Some of Friuli’s finest white wines are made from Friulano, especially from the Collio and Colli Orientali del Friuli regions squashed up against the Slovenian border. It grows on the other side of said border too. Italian migrants took the variety to South America where it was widely grown in Chile but thought to be Sauvignon Blanc. Despite the easy confusion, and the name Sauvignonasse, there is no known connection with Sauvignon Blanc.

Lea and Sandeman Independent Wine Merchants - 2013 Christmas

Christmas Tasting in Chiswick

By on 10/12/2013

The theme, such as you need a theme beyond ‘Christmas’, was to put a few less likely wines in front of people, to test and tantalize the taste-buds. With that in mind, we left out the traditional option of Champagne, and kicked off with the very splendid Gusbourne 2008 Brut Reserve from the Garden of England, a zippy but textured fizz that works really well as an aperitif.

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