4 standout tocai on day 1

Above Sabrina fills up Alfonso ''Ace'' Cevola, at the Consorzio.

Where to start...? Monday was a really jam packed first day, tasting from noon untill midnight non stop really jump started the palate.  We did a 42 Tocai tasting, so I will list 4 that stood out for me and for very different reasons.

This was the first time I have tasted any Tocai side by side and it was really cool to see the variation.  We all agreed for the most part that today's Sauvignon tasting was much more consistant from wine to wine.

Ermacora Friulano 2009- This was a beautiful showing of Friulano.  I am right with Do Bianchi when he wrote this wine showing varietal expression, freshness, good acidity, balanced alcohol, classic Friulano white fruit.

Conte D'attimis Maniago Friulano 2009 - This was for me the most interesting wine of the flight.  Being the most original in style, very dirty, gritty but at the same time balanced and showing great fruit and acidity. 38,500 bottles produced.

Cadibon Friulano 2009 - This wine was crazy...when first poured it stunned the shit out of me with a bright frizzante character.  after 5 or 10 minutes in the glass it changed completely... the frizzante disappeared completely and it resembled more the Ermacora style with great fruit and acidity.

Now for the Monday Madness, Tocai Bonus wine...
Stroppolatini Friulano 2008 - Samantha jumped right on this wine and labeled it as having notes of celery salt and resembling a Bloody Mary. We all agreed and I labeled it in my notes as tasting of a Michelada (the Mexican beer laced with salt, lime, hot sauce and Worchestershire sauce)... really stunning to taste... I am still not sure if it was as enjoyable as just mind boggling.  I ran up to the office and gave the glass to Jeremy to taste. 

Welcome to Friuli!

Il Roncal, view from my window...

Arriving in Friuli Sunday was quite a relief after a very long series of flights that left me exhausted and close to hallucination.  After getting picked up at Marco Polo airport in Venice, We made a breathtaking entrance into the Agriturismo Il Roncal in Cividale del Friuli.  As we stroll up the narrow driveway Do Bianchi says casually, ''This is your guys place!''  What an honor to stay here in the hands of the Colli Orientali Del Friuli.  Such nice people.  It was a trip to meet all of the bloggers as well, who I have been sharing comments with online and reading their blogs over the past months.  They are all awesome and I'm psyched to be tasting with them on these Friulian adventures.

Our welcome toast with an Il Roncal Spumante and some crispy friulian Fricco.

When Jeremy first proposed this trip to me a couple months back it instantly made perfect sense for me.  After traveling northern Italy a couple years ago and tasting heaps of delicious white wines that I never knew existed I wondered...what are we missing in the States?  When I returned and looked in numerous shops online and around my home town in western Massachusetts I came up not only empty handed...but a little empty hearted.  Working 7 months this summer in a Relais & Chateaux with a 21,000 bottle wine cellar and an Italian white wine selection of around 12 bottles (more than half of which are Pinot Grigio from Alto Adige) I was more than happy to take on this project.  Every time I give someone a taste of a ''different'' Italian white wine that their palate is not used to, they always end up surprised and excited to drink it.  So what should we do here to improve the communications and promotion of these great Friulian wines?  This is what we talked about over our first dinner in Friuli with the consorzio tonight.  This next week we will be doing 2 winery visits a day along with a ''light'' lunch and dinner while sharing thoughts and ideas.

Not a true Friulian dining experience without the classic Prosciutto di San Daniele.

a 2006 Refosco by Le Vigne Di Zamo, which was a hotter year and brought a higher alcohol (14%) and lower acidity wine.

New to me was this typical dolce friulano called ''Gubana'' (a sugared bread with dried fruit) this one served with a type of zabaglione, earlier for lunch we had it drizzled with grappa!

 Above we were served this La Viarte ''Sium'' 2006 (Sium, meaning dream in the Friulian language) with the Gubana.  A COF Dolce DOC, can be made by vinification of one or more of the white Friulian varieties.  This one is made with Picolit and Verduzzo Friulano.  12% vol, not too sweet and lip smacking good with the Gubana.

 The President of the consorzio Pierluigi Comelli repeated a few times making sure we understood the importance of the Friulian culture, gastronomy and even the dialect (refering to it as a language and not a dialect) all together as a whole that make the wines what they are.  There was even a Friulian poem by Pasolini recited and then translated to english by Jeremy!  Check out the video that should be posted soon by Alfonso...

soaring over the alpes, into venice

oooh $h!"*y, i'm in the worlds biggest little city

top notch saditty...(lyrics from hip hop artist Mac Dre- she neva seen)
i'm taking my chips off of the blackjack table and bee lining it to the exit... grabbing luggage for italy at my mate Nathaniel's house and heading to the airport for a smooth 3 am arrival.  reno to friuli... quite a change of scenery, eh?
friulian bloggers, see you all tomorrow!