White Grape · Friuli Venezia Giulia

Friulano

Friuli's benchmark dry white: textured, saline and unmistakable for its bitter-almond finish, grown on the ponca marl of Collio and Colli Orientali, and unrelated to the sweet Hungarian Tokaji whose name it was once forced to drop.

Friulano is the benchmark dry white of Friuli Venezia Giulia, grown on the ponca marl hills of Collio and Colli Orientali in Italy's far northeast. Pale straw with green glints, it marries white-flower and orchard-fruit aromas to a savoury, unmistakable bitter-almond finish. Until 2007 it wore the older name Tocai Friulano.

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Denominations

Clearing it up

One name, two different wines

vs
This is the grape

Friulano (formerly Tocai Friulano)

Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy

  • A dry Italian whiteStill, unoaked or lightly oaked, with a savoury bitter-almond finish.
  • Grown in Collio and Colli OrientaliThe ponca hills of Italy's northeast, plus eastern Veneto as Lison and Tai.
  • Genetically SauvignonasseThe variety once called Sauvignon Vert, not related to Hungary at all.
Not this

Tokaji (Tokaji Aszu)

Tokaj, Hungary

  • A sweet Hungarian wineBotrytised dessert wine from Furmint and Harslevelu grapes.
  • A protected place-nameIts geographic protection is what forced Italy to retire the Tocai label in 2007.
  • No shared DNAThe similar old spelling was the only link between the two.

The anchor fact: Friulano was called Tocai Friulano until 2007, when an EU ruling reserved every Tocai and Tokaj spelling for Hungary's sweet Tokaji. The Italian grape is dry, unrelated to Hungary, and genetically identical to Sauvignonasse.

Taste · Where it sits

What it’s actually like in the glass

Forget scores out of five. Here’s Friulano described against grapes you already know.

BodyTextured
LeanFull

Fuller and waxier than Friuli's Pinot Grigio, yet lighter than an oak-aged Chardonnay; the ponca marl of Collio lends a gentle, saline weight.

TanninBarely there
NoneGrippy

A white with no tannic frame; only the skin-contact bottlings a few Collio growers make add a faint orange-wine grip.

AcidityPoised
SoftRacy

Balanced rather than piercing: gentler than the taut line of a Carso Vitovska, firmer than a plump southern Grillo, so it refreshes without cutting.

Fruit-sweetnessBone dry
Bone drySweet

Always dry despite the old Tocai name; the fruit reads as green apple and pear, then the finish turns savoury and almond, never sugary.

Key flavours

Almond
The grape's calling card: a gentle bitter-almond note on the finish, the Friulian 'mandorla' that tells a blind taster this is Friulano and not Sauvignon Blanc.
Acacia
White acacia blossom is the lead floral, softer and honeyed next to the sharper elderflower of an aromatic white; it broadens as the wine ages toward hay and honey.
Grapefruit
Pink-grapefruit citrus gives lift and a pithy bite, the freshening counterweight that keeps the grape's waxy Collio texture from turning heavy.
Green Apple
Crunchy green-apple fruit marks the cooler Colli Orientali and Grave sites, where the grape stays bright rather than tropical.
Pear
Ripe pear fills the mid-palate on warmer ponca vineyards, the orchard-fruit heart beneath the blossom and citrus.
Hay
A dry meadow-hay and dried-herb note is Friulano's savoury tell, the 'fieno' Italian tasters cite as the wine gains a year or two in bottle.
Wet stones
Wet-stone salinity comes straight off the marl-and-sandstone ponca, the mineral sapidity that makes a Collio Friulano taste of its hillside.
Racy · Crisp Round · Soft Light-bodied Bold · Full Glera Chardonnay Pinot Grigio Vermentino Garganega Cortese
Friulano

The map

Friulano is medium-bodied, balanced acidity, mapped against other white grapes you can buy. The closer a grape sits, the more its weight and freshness resemble Friulano.

Friulanomedium-bodied, balanced acidity
Gleralighter, crisper
Chardonnaya close match
Pinot Grigiolighter, crisper
Vermentinolighter, crisper
Garganegalighter, crisper
Corteselighter, crisper

Is this for you?

An honest gut-check

Reach for it when…

A bold red that just works

  • You want a white with real texture and a savoury almond twist, not just citrus zip.
  • Prosciutto di San Daniele, frico or aged Montasio are on the table.
  • You already like Northern Italian whites such as Soave or Pinot Bianco and want to go deeper.

Maybe skip it if…

You’re after something else tonight

  • You are chasing loud tropical fruit or the pungent bite of Sauvignon Blanc.
  • You expected the sweet Hungarian Tokaji that the old Tocai name hinted at.
  • You want a red, or a wine with obvious residual sweetness.

Serving guide

Pour it at its best

Serve at

12-14°C

Serve at 12 to 14C: too cold and the acacia and almond go mute, too warm and the wine turns broad.

Decant

No

No decanting needed; a swirl in the glass is enough to lift the white-flower top notes.

Glass

Tulip Glass

A tulip glass gathers the delicate blossom and citrus that a wide bowl would scatter.

Drink within

3-5 days

Best from two to five years: bright and orchard-fresh young, edging toward hay and honey with age.

Cellar

2-5 years

Only the structured Collio and single-vineyard bottlings reward cellaring; everyday Grave Friulano is made to drink young.

On the table

What to eat with Friulano

Start with the home-table matches that made the grape, then browse the full cuisine library.

Frico

The regional classic

Frico

Frico's fried Montasio cheese is rich and salty; Friulano's saline cut and almond finish slice through the fat the way a local pours it in Carnia.
Cjarson

Sweet meets savoury

Cjarson

Cjarsons balance sugar, herbs and smoked ricotta, a puzzle for most wines; Friulano's off-dry-seeming fruit and dry, herbal close meet both sides at once.
Risi e bisi

Spring on the plate

Risi e bisi

The grape's green-apple freshness and gentle body echo the peas and rice of risi e bisi without burying its delicacy.

Browse every pairing

Italian Italian
Risotto 2 Cheese 1 Pasta 1
Indian Indian
Vegetarian 2
Japanese Japanese
Ramen & Noodle Soups 1

Buy it · three to start with

Not sure which bottle? Start here

A curated trio across the price range, then every Friulano on sale in the UK right now.

Entry · everyday

Conte Brandolini D'Adda Brandolini Friulano DOC

Conte Brandolini D'Adda Brandolini Friulano DOC

Appellation TBD

1 retailer

£17.59

View Wine

Why this one: A straight, unoaked Friulano from the Brandolini estate: white flowers, green apple and a clean almond finish for everyday drinking.

The sweet spot

Castello di Buttrio Friulano

Castello di Buttrio Friulano

Friuli Colli Orientali

1 retailer

£24.91

View Wine

Why this one: A single-estate Colli Orientali bottling with more ponca texture and salinity, the sweet spot where Friulano shows its hillside character.

Special occasion

Capo Martino, Jermann, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy

Capo Martino, Jermann, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy

Venezia Giulia

1 retailer

£75.00

View Wine

Why this one: Jermann's Capo Martino is a barrel-aged, Friulano-led Collio benchmark: structured, layered and built for the cellar.

6 bottles

View All Friulano Wines

Denominations

Where it earns a name on the label

The appellations where Friulano plays a starring role.

Collio Goriziano/CollioDOC Friuli Colli OrientaliDOC Friuli/Friuli Venezia GiuliaDOC LisonDOCG RosazzoDOCG

Where it grows

Where Friulano grows in Friuli Venezia Giulia

Friuli Venezia Giulia wine region

Friuli Venezia Giulia

Italy's white-wine heartland, where Friulano, Ribolla Gialla and skin-contact orange wines meet alpine air, Adriatic light and the cooking of San Daniele and Carnia.

64 wines · 18 denominations
Explore the Friuli Venezia Giulia guide

The terroir

Friulano changes voice across Friuli's hills and plain, from the marl of the border ridges to the gravel of the flatlands.

Collio

Gorizia border hills

The marl-and-sandstone ponca gives the most textured, saline and age-worthy Friulano.

Colli Orientali

Udine foothills

Slightly warmer inland slopes yield riper pear and orchard fruit over the same mineral spine.

Friuli Grave

The gravel plain

Alluvial gravels make lighter, brighter, everyday Friulano to drink young.

Editorial

About Friulano

Friulano is an autochthonous white of Italy's northeast, registered in the national vine catalogue and grown almost entirely across Friuli Venezia Giulia and eastern Veneto. For most of the twentieth century its wines were labelled Tocai Friulano. That ended after the European Court of Justice ruled in 2005 that the Tocai spelling had to be reserved for Hungary's protected Tokaji: from 31 March 2007 Italian labels adopted the synonym Friulano, while the vine's registered name stayed unchanged.

For a century it was Tocai Friulano; since 2007 it is simply Friulano, the same vine under a name Europe let it keep.

European Court of Justice ruling, 2005

Genetically the grape is identical to Sauvignonasse, the variety once called Sauvignon Vert and still found in Bordeaux and Chile. It has no relationship to the sweet Hungarian wine its former name suggested. In eastern Veneto the same grape is bottled as Lison and as Tai, yet its truest voice stays in Friuli.

On the ponca, the marl and sandstone of Collio and Colli Orientali, the grape finds its finest form: textured, saline and long, as in the wines of Marco Felluga's Russiz Superiore estate at Capriva del Friuli. Down on the Grave plain it is lighter and quicker to drink. Most Friulano ferments in steel to guard its freshness, though growers such as Jermann build structured, barrel-touched versions, and a few macerate it on the skins as an orange wine. Whichever the style, it sits with Ribolla Gialla and Pinot Bianco at the heart of Friuli's quiet renaissance in white wine, keeping the same bitter-almond signature that marks Marche's Verdicchio over a rounder, more textured frame than Soave's Garganega.

Good to know

Frequently asked

Tocai Friulano was the grape's traditional name in Friuli until 2007. After the European Court of Justice ruled in 2005 that any Tocai or Tokaj spelling had to be reserved for Hungary's protected Tokaji, Italian labels switched to the synonym Friulano from 31 March 2007, though the vine's registered varietal name never changed.

No. Friulano is a dry Italian white grape from Friuli Venezia Giulia, unrelated to Hungary's sweet Tokaji dessert wine. The two only ever shared a similar spelling, which is exactly why the European Union forced Italy to drop the Tocai name in 2007.

No. Despite its old synonym Sauvignon Vert, Friulano is genetically Sauvignonasse, a distinct variety from Sauvignon Blanc. It is far less aromatic and pungent, leading instead with white flowers, orchard fruit and a bitter-almond finish.

Friulano is a dry, medium-bodied white with aromas of acacia and white flowers, green apple, pear and grapefruit, closing on a distinctive bitter-almond note. Balanced acidity and a saline, textured palate make it food-friendly rather than showy.

Friulano pairs best with the cured meats and cheeses of its Friulian home, above all prosciutto di San Daniele, frico and aged Montasio. Its savoury almond edge and gentle acidity also flatter herb-driven risotti, cjarsons and delicate freshwater fish.

Friulano is grown almost entirely in Friuli Venezia Giulia and eastern Veneto. Its most celebrated wines come from the ponca hills of Collio and Colli Orientali, while the Grave plain produces lighter, everyday styles.

Explore by style

Wine styles made from Friulano

Jump to the editorial guide for each style this grape turns up in.

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