Nomina sunt Omina: "Il tocai al guaris ducj i mai."
We are in a unique land made up of people living in the same Region with popular and wonderful diversity.
Just try telling a person from Udine that people from Trieste are from Friuli (and vice versa) if you want to border on blasphemy, but on wine-and on one in particular-everyone agrees: in Friuli Venezia Giulia, wine is in everyone's soul, after all, wine and territory go hand in hand-and to cellars and frasche.
What kind of wine are we talking about?
Of course of Friulano, until a few years ago known as Tocai Friulano but better known only as Tocai.
The similarity, only in name, with the Hungarian Tokaji has in past years triggered a legal battle whose outcome we know (Hungary-Italy 1 to 0), but which paradoxically saw all the provinces of Friuli united in defense of the name, despite the above particularisms-in short, like a Lazio player and a Roma player cheering together for Italy in the World Cup.
Because yes, there is a "localistic romance" concerning wines and the riches of the land, and the knowledge of losing a name that has always been used bothered everyone, indiscriminately.
In the taverns, people did not simply ask for a "taj di blanc," but for a "taj di tocai," underscoring how ingrained it was in popular culture.
One of the very first days our winery was open, an elderly gentleman on a bicycle, evidently familiar with the place and the wine, happened by and simply asked us for a "taj."
Oh my God, what do I do? We open him a white, a red, a barricade, he wants a sip of water? Panic fear help!
Stories that are lost in time, of which the youngest may have only the memory of family discussions about the injustice of this "legalized theft," but as the dear and wise Bruno Pizzul ( who, however, sympathetically declared himself a disobedient from the start because he would have demanded a "taj di tocai" anyway) says, there has been a positive side to the Tocai affaire: that people have begun to know more about this wine, and that if the wine is good it remains so even with a different name: Friulano.
For us, Friulano is a symbol of the territory, and it is a grape variety that carries within it the magic of versatility.
Rich and structured from a young age-bright and with a really broad bouqet that hints at vegetable notes and scents of thyme and chamomile-it can mature well in harmony with wood while maintaining its freshness without ever betraying its terroir.
Come taste our Friulano Millenial, a modern wine from mature vines, or try our Fausto 2019, macerated and aged in amphora: two different souls from the same ancient vine.
We also recommend a short and entertaining video on the issue of Tocai/Tocaji by Bruno Pizzul, a treat!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_v7MJQWpSY
See you anon!