In one of the citations present in the dialectal poem “El Vin Friularo” of 1788 written by the Venetian poet Ludovico Pastò, the richness, structure, power, majesty of the wine produced by the vine born precisely from his native region, that is the Friularo, is celebrated. .
Friularo is an ancient and little known native red grape variety, the only prince of the Paduan plain. It is a biotype of the Venetian wine variety Raboso Piave and originates from the small town of Bagnoli di Sopra. Since 2011 it has been counted among the Italian DOCGs (DOCG Bagnoli Friularo, the only DOCG from the Paduan red berry) which involves the 14 municipalities of the lower Padua area where this vine is historically grown.
Friularo was already appreciated in ancient times, but there is more certain historical evidence regarding its existence, cultivation and marketing from the medieval era thanks to the Benedictine monks who lived in the abbeys of the lower Padua area, even more precisely the monks of the abbey of Santa Giustina who at the time taught new and more advanced methods of cultivation to local farmers
It is said that in 1239 the Emperor Frederick II of Swabia during his stay in Padua was hosted by the monks of
the ancient monastery of Santa Giustina and during his stay he fell madly in love with this Friularo wine. The emperor fell in love with it so much that before his departure the monks made him receive as a gift “two chariots” that accompanied him on his travels through the empire.
And there is evidence that in the 300′s Friularo was already present in the rich banquets of the aristocratic and powerful Carraresi family from Padua and was marketed throughout the Venetian city.
As demonstrated also by the sumptuous donation made by the Benedictines to Emperor Frederick II of Swabia for his long imperial voyages, Friularo was characterized by a preponderant angularity given by the strong presence of fixed acids that give it an important structure, so much so as to deserve the dialectal nickname of “Vin da viajo” or travel wine, due to the ability to be perfectly preserved during the long journeys of the caravans.
In short, although still very unknown, Friularo represents one of the most historic and valuable viticultural-oenological excellences of the Veneto, but it owes its life to the only two historical companies in the area that still label and market it: the millenary Cantina de ” The domain of Bagnoli ”and the Cooperative Cellar of Conselve in 1950.
The one that historically has had the greatest impact on the research and technological evolution of this ancient native vine is the Cantina di Conselve, a company that now has 800 contributing members with 43 certified companies. This winery over the course of history has invested many resources on Friularo, on its enographic climb towards the DOCG, in trying to internationalize the product as much as possible and focusing a lot on its longevity, producing with it different lines of labels in the ‘Riserva’ type that could therefore last as long as possible over time, even if internally the production of this wine has always remained very limited and niche especially in comparison to labels produced with other vines.
In ancient times Friularo was cultivated using not the classic row, but a live support as support, usually a willow, with systems called “a tirella” or “a Paduan cassone” and still today some local growers use this technique. It is characterized by particularly large clusters composed of berries with a very thick skin rich in polyphenols (especially anthocyanins) and tannins, in fact, once transformed, the resulting wine has a full and intense color and beautiful powerful tannins inclined to be often softened with aging in wood.
But one of the key peculiarities of this vine lies precisely in the etymology of its name, in fact it derives from the Venetian dialect term “friu” or more completely “vin frigoelaro” which literally means cold wine, in fact this is what is technically called grape late.
It is harvested last between October and November and then left to dry in the loft where it rests inside crates until the period of the epiphany where it begins its pressing phase followed by a period of aging in barrels that can easily reach the 7-8 years.
Due to its predisposition to late ripening with subsequent drying, it suggests the much better known and celebrated Amarone and Recioto wines from the Veronese area of Valpolicella but, although less well known, it has nothing to envy to any other wine in the world.
