March 2022 Italian Wine Club

Friuli - Venezia Giulia

Whenever I have the bad idea to generalize about Italian wine, I end up paraphrasing Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca - Italy is just like any other wine region, only more so. More grapes, more regions, more history, more passionate  arguments conveyed with florid hand gestures. Impossible to pin down, sum up or exhaust, Italian wine presents such a vast and variegated world of its own that we have to narrow our focus just to make it manageable. So in Italian Wine Club we frame a different region each month, zooming in from there on all the smaller local traditions that comprise it. Sometimes in doing so we lose sight of the bigger picture - you know, the rest of the world. 

While no wine region - even the actual islands - is a metaphorical island, there are some that have developed in relative isolation. Italy, with its long history of global engagement via trade, travel and conflict,  is not one of them. The international influence on Italian viticulture has been profound, from the Germanic varietals of Alto Adige to the  Mediterranean sweep of Sicily and Sardigna, to the mass cultivation of international grapes for the world market. Nowhere is this clearer than in  Friuli - Venezia Giulia, the be-hyphened region occupying Italy’s far northwestern corner. Bordering Austria to north, Slovenia to the east, Veneto to the west and facing the Adriatic Sea to the south, Friuli - Venezia Giulia (henceforth abbreviated as Friuli) is the hinge that connects Italian peninsula with the Eastern Europe and Asia; since antiquity, it has been a highly contested crossroads of cultures, languages, religions and ethnicities. Most of the region was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire from the early 19th century until the end of the First World War in 1918, after which it was folded into Italy. Following World War II, the Istrian peninsula and the Carso plateau became part of Yugoslavia. The city of Trieste, historically one of Europe’s most important ports (and a great place to recall other places in exacting detail apparently - James Joyce completed Dubliners and Portrait of the Artist.. and began Ulysses whilst a resident) was declared a “Free Territory”, and divided into two zones to be administered by The United States-England and Yugoslavia, respectively. It did not become a part of Italy until 1954. The region as it is currently constructed only came into being in 1963.

Today, Friuli displays its complex provenance more proudly and easily than any time in recent history;  Slavic and Germanic influences on the culture and cuisine co-exist with and complement  the Italian and Mediterranean ones, local dialects are still spoken, and all of it gets reflected in the wine. Fruilian terroir is appropriately diverse, with the landscape characterized by coastal, flatlands, mountains and plateaus. There are 11 DOC and 3 DOCG’s in the  region, with  most of the vineyards  located in the southern half, including the large wine regions of Collio Goriziano, Colli Orientali del Friuli, Isonzo, and the Slovenian border straddling Carso-Kras, one of the world’s only bi-national appellations. The white wines have historically overshadowed the reds (though this is changing somewhat) and there are over 30 different varietals under vine, from local specialities like Friulano, Ribolla Gialla, Picolit, Refosco, Schioppettino and  Pignolo to a host of internationally famous grapes that receive distinctly Friulian renderings. This month we have two outstanding examples of the latter. The “white” is a Pinot Grigio (originally from France) made in the local Ramato style. The word comes from rame, copper in Italian, and is so named for the color of wine that results when the grape must macerates on its dark hued skins for an extended period. This is traditionally how all Pinot Grigio’s were produced  in Italy until Santa Maghertia pioneered the now ubiquitous approach in 1960s. For the red, we have a Cabernet Franc, from a 100+ year-old winery in the village of Cormons di Brazzano, seven miles west of the Slovenian border. Both are farmed and made organically. 

Jancis Robinson has referred to the  wines of Friuli - Venezia Giulia  as “in a way…foreign to Italians”. I think their cosmopolitan origins are a great opportunity to expand our conceptions of Italian wine -  and make sure we don’t miss the proverbial vineyard for the vines. They are also unique and delicious. Hope you enjoy them!

Cheers,

Alan Hicks/Wine Buyer/Noe Valley

CINNAMON SPICED PORK RAGU WITH TAGLIATELLE.

A specifically Friulian pasta - no garlic or olive oil, but the cinnamon is indicative of Trieste’s history as a spice trading destination. 

INGREDIENTS

• 400 g tagliatelle (14 oz) You can also use pasta tubes or other pasta ribbons
• 400 g pork tenderloin (14 oz) or shoulder
• 1 onion peeled and finely chopped
• 30 g butter (1oz)
• 1 bunch herbs (marjoram, rosemary, thyme, sage, bay leaf) 
• 1/2 glass white wine
• 2 eggs
• 45 g Montasio or Parmigiano grated
• salt for pasta and to taste
• black pepper to taste
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder
• 2-3 cloves or 1 tsp clove powder

1. Cut the meat into small pieces and brown it in melted butter in a deep frying pan or iron skillet.
2. Stir, then lower the heat, add salt, pepper, cloves and cinnamon. Pour in the wine and continue cooking.
3. Peel and finely chop the onion. Wash and chop the herbs (if fresh) except the bay leaf.
4. Reduce some of the liquid over a moderate heat, then add the finely chopped onion and the bunch of aromatic herbs, cover and cook, slowly and for about 45 minutes to one hour.
5. Put a pot of water onto boil for the pasta. Add salt once it starts to boil and bring to the boil again. Cook the pasta al dente according to the instructions on the packet.
6. Break the eggs into a bowl and beat with a pinch of salt.
7. Drain the pasta and add it to the pan with the meat sauce, mix together well . Add the beaten egg a little at a time whilst stirring continuously until all the pasta is coated with the eggs and sauce.
8. Serve immediately with the grated cheese.