 Big, rich Italian white wines. We're going to talk about it in this episode. To exotic wine travel, I am your host, Matthew Horkey. We're here at the Villa Familia in Istria, Croatia. That's why you saw the introduction video. We're kind of, we've been locked down in Croatia for a few months, so we're staying in Istria, visiting producers, trying to taste or increase as much content as possible for you. But today we're going to talk about a region that's very close to Istria, one of my favorite regions in the world, Friuli Venizia Giulia. For those of you who don't know, Friuli Venizia Giulia is in the very northeast part of Italy on the border of Slovenia. Really unique culture, very distinctive wines was one of the first regions to really produce high quality white Italian wines. And we have one of the pioneering producers here today. I'm going to taste a few of the wines. It's a region that, you know, about half of the production is white, about 45% is actually red. I really like reds. There's a lot of unique indigenous varieties, a lot of also international grapes as well. When you think Friuli Venizia Giulia, in general, you can have a lot of cheap Pinot Grigio's, a lot of like table type wines, but at the top level, you're going to have rich, complex, full-bodied white wines and also well-structured red. You know, Friuli Venizia Giulia was leading kind of leading the way in terms of quality white wines in Italy, especially in the 60s, 70s. That's when they started making temperature control, making more modern, crispy white wines. Although Adige also makes a number, a handful of really, really, really good white wines. You know, unfortunately for Friuli Venizia Giulia, but fortunately for us, the consumer, everywhere in Italy is making super high-quality whites now. So some of the market share have went down for some of these wines, or maybe not as trendy as they used to be. Nonetheless, I still really love them, and we're going to taste some here today. Without further ado, let's get into the tasting today. I have two producers owned by one family, Marco Falugia Ana. Sorry, Falugia. Marco Falugia and Russis Superiore. It's actually linked actually here to Istria because Marco Falugia's family was actually from Motivone here in Istria, and then after World War II, they went over to Friuli Venizia Giulia where they set up their estate. It was one of the pioneering producers in fresh, crispy white wines, modern white wines. The family also bought the estate Russis Superiore, which is kind of more of the premium wines. And we're going to taste through two today. I also have a tasting article coming up. You'll have to keep your eye out for that. First one we're going to talk about is the Molomata Colio Bianco 2017, partially barrel-fermented, Pinot Blanc, Robola Gialla in Friulano. So you have an international grape and two local grapes. I think in the world of fine wines, this is a screaming value for money. You can find it around the world in the $25 range, super complex, rich. I'll save some of that for the tasting article coming up. Also one that we just tasted. This is one of the top whites from Russis Superiore. This is the Colio Pinot Bianco Reserva 2015 Barrel-Fermented Pinot Blanc. This is ripe, rich, profound, rich, round, and profound. This wine is incredible. For those of you that like the bigger California Chardonnays with a little meloelectric fermentation, kind of merceau from Burgundy, going to be really loving this. I'm not going to get too into detail because I have it up in the tasting article coming up. I'm just telling you, this was a heck of a wine. So let's taste two other wines here today, and I wanted to kind of share a story with you. These are two grapes that are popular, but really don't get kind of shunned now by wine. Because at first I have the Marco Falluglia, Marco Falluga Colio Pinot Grigio Reserva, the Long Gris 2017. Pinot Grigio, Marco Falluga was kind of one of the pioneers of producing crisp Pinot Grigios made there with the U.S. market. Now some times kind of sores kind of poo-poo on Pinot Grigio because there's a lot of thin, bland ones out there. But the grape is capable of making some really profound wines. Some of my favorites are definitely in Freeliving in St. Julia and the Colio Region and also in Alto Adage. This is partially barrel-fermented, partially in steel. I have not tasted this wine before, so I'm looking forward to it. Let's give it a sniff. So this 30% of barrel fermentation here, so it's almost chardonnay. Don't think of cheap Pinot Grigio where it's all citrusy, bright, easy going. Think here more melon, more white peach, a little bit of yogurt, brioche type notes. The barrel definitely comes out a little bit. Has this Colio clay-like aroma that I find super attractive as well? Some mineral. Let's give this a whirl. This is serious Pinot Grigio. This is a thin summer sipping pool sipping Pinot Grigio. It's got some weight. This has definitely got some density. I really like, I'm liking this a lot. Full body, you definitely can feel the oak. This is for people that like barrel whites. This is a type of white wine. It's going to go fantastic with a creamy white chicken type dishes. Bigger fish. We actually had some Dentex and some Gilthead Bream last night. I think I wish I would have opened this. Round, creamy mouthfeel. This has acidity. A little bit more acidity than the Pinot Bianco Reserva that I tasted over the last few days. This definitely has some tanginess. Brilliant. Cool thing about really nice wine. For me, I'm going to have to retaste and we'll see how it goes. I'm kind of in the 91 point range. I think this is very, very good. For those you want to explore top Pinot Grigios, I definitely think you should give this a try. For those you don't know, Pinot Grigio is the same grape as Pinot Gris. Some people think of it more as a red grape because it's got a pinkish skin. Obviously they take the skins off to make a white wine. They also make some nice orange wines out of Pinot Grigio up there in Colio. Like that one a lot. Very, very nice stuff. The next is we have the Russa Superiore Colio Sauvignon 2019. I'm super excited to try this because the 2018 was actually named in Vine Pairs Top 25 Sauvignon Blancs from around the world. Now it's so cool. A couple of things. Colio is, Colio along with Colio Orientale is one of the more famous DOCs in the area. One of the premium wines, the small sellers are going to come from that area. Sauvignon Blanc in Frioli Vignice Giulia, I'm telling you, it's one of my favorite regions. When I think of old world, I'm talking about European Sauvignon Blanc. For me, I'm going to Loire. I'm going to South Stéria in Austria. Then in Italy, for me, I love the examples from Frioli Vignice Giulia and Alto Adage. Let's give this a go. 85% in steel, 15% barrel fermented. The Sauvignon Blancs and Frioli Vignice Giulia tend to have some more weight, more volume. Let's give this a smell. This is exactly what I like. Some of the most profound Sauvignon Blancs I've ever had have been from Frioli Vignice Giulia, including the barrel fermented examples from Miani and his neighbor, Meroi. Some of those wines are profound and incredible. This part of the world, from that part of Italy over to Austria, this is the type of flavors you're going to get. You get a little bit of Kiwi. It's a little pungent, but not over the top, think New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. It's kind of in between a Loire and a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. There's Kiwi, a little bit of grass. Let me pick this up here. A little bit of this crispy herb note type deal I really like. Snap green peas come to mind. There's still plenty of fruit. I'm really, really digging this. Let's give this a go. 2019, super fresh. Really like this kind of Sauvignon Blanc a lot. For those of you that poo poo on Sauvignon Blanc, you should try the ones from Frioli Vignice Giulia. They are delicious. Got plenty of fruit for those that want to ease into more complex white wines. For us, hardcore wine nerds definitely still have the grass, some of the subtleties, the herbs, like I said, snap green peas. Not too over the top of the other way, not too herbaceous, not too fruity. Nice spine-tingling acidity for a bigger white wine, a bigger Sauvignon Blanc. This has acidity. Some critics of wines of Frioli Vignice Giulia say that the wines are too low in acidity. Wow. Really like this. Super fruit friendly. It's the end of Wild Asparagus season here in Istria Croatia. I'm going to see if we can pair this with some frittaya, some egg, some frittaya, which is an egg with anything in Croatian. I definitely want to mix it with some Wild Asparagus. Good wine for me, definitely. I'm going to have to retaste over and over again. Definitely at least a 90 plus point type of wine, maybe even more. Really good. Fresh. Wow. Just really nice wines. You have to check it out. You really have to check out the tasting article for this bad boy, the Pino Bianco Reserva. This is a wine that you definitely need to be checking out for guys that are serious age-worthy whites. Marco Falluga, Russo Superiori. Good job. I'm a big fan of the wines. I've been to a lot of the states in Frioli Vignice Giulia. I've yet to visit this estate. I would like to go there as soon as possible. Guys, check out some of these wines. A cool thing about Marco Falluga, Russo Superiori wines is they're widely available around the world as we have a dog or dog barking back there. Also, check out a lot of different wines from Frioli. There's also his older brother, Livio Falluga. Also has a separate estate. Wines worth mentioning as well. So, guys, check them out. Let me know. Are you drinking? Have you tried the wines from Frioli Vignice Giulia before? Do you like them? Guys, if you liked this video, please subscribe to our YouTube channel, Exotic Wine Travel. I will see you at the next episode.