The local cheeses of Friuli-Venezia Giulia with the local wines that suit them, and why they work.
The cheeses of Friuli-Venezia Giulia with the wines made beside them. Pairings marked as a local tradition are the ones a regional source names; the rest are our own picks, and say so.
Qualigeo lists Collio Ribolla Gialla among the wines for Montasio. These skin-fermented Ribollas from the Collio hills bring tea-like tannin, dried apricot and acidity to meet the granular, crumbly paste of an aged wheel.
Bottles to try:
Qualigeo lists Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso with Montasio. Its dark fruit and brisk acidity cut through the butter-and-hay richness of a Mezzano or older wheel.
Bottles to try:
Qualigeo names Colli Orientali Picolit among the wines for Montasio. Its honeyed sweetness plays against the salty, savoury paste of an aged Stagionato or Stravecchio, and high acidity keeps it from cloying.
Bottles to try:
Wikipedia's article on Friulian cuisine lists Refosco among the common reds drunk with frico, Montasio and aged latteria. Its acidity and tannin bite into a firm, savoury wheel.
Bottles to try:
Wikipedia's article on Friulian cuisine lists Merlot, Refosco and Cabernet among the common reds drunk with frico, Montasio and aged latteria. Merlot's dark plum and firm, fine tannin frame the savoury, granular paste of a long-aged wheel.
Bottles to try:
Turismo FVG calls Asìno savoury and piquant in both its soft fresh and its aged version. A steel-raised Pinot Bianco with apple, almond and high acidity cleans the salt and adds no oak or tannin to the heat.
Bottles to try:
A young latteria is sweet, with a mild, milky paste, and a dry Friulano with high acidity and its almond note sits beside it without covering it. Wikipedia's article on Friulian cuisine lists fresh cheeses among what the region's white wines are drunk with.
Bottles to try:
Formaggio salato is soft and made savoury by brine. A Carso Terrano, medium-bodied with racy acidity, dark berry fruit and only medium tannin, cuts the salt and refreshes the palate between bites.
Bottles to try:
Aged latteria, the 6 to 12 month wheels that are grated or fried into frico, has a compact paste with few, small eyes. A Merlot or Merlot and Cabernet red brings dark fruit and tannin to meet it, and the fat of the paste softens the wine's grip.
Bottles to try:
A well-aged malga wheel has a unique, intense flavour and a firm but soft paste. Pignolo, full-bodied with firm tannin after long ageing in wood, has the weight to match it, and the cheese's fat softens the grip.
Bottles to try:
Asìno is savoury and piquant in its soft fresh and its aged versions. A dry Friulian Pinot Grigio, with pear or apple, almond and high acidity, cleans the salt and has the body to carry the piquancy.
Bottles to try:
Qualigeo lists Prosecco DOP among the wines for Montasio. A dry, light Friulian spumante brings the same fresh acidity and fine bubbles, cleaning the palate between milky, yoghurty bites of young Fresco.
Bottles to try:
A well-aged malga wheel has a unique, intense flavour after up to a year of ageing. Schioppettino's black pepper and bright acidity answer that intensity, and its medium body leaves the cheese in front.
Bottles to try:
The honey and dried-apricot sweetness of a sweet Verduzzo Friulano, the grape of Ramandolo, softens the smoke and salt of a fresh scuete fumade, while its acidity keeps the pairing from cloying.
Bottles to try:
A well-aged malga wheel has a unique, intense flavour. A full-bodied Friulano raised on its lees, partly or wholly in wood, has the breadth to meet it, and its high acidity and almond note cut the firm paste.
Bottles to try:
Scuete fumade is a compact white whey cheese with a smoke note from juniper or beech. A dry Friulian Sauvignon with elderflower and high acidity lifts the mild paste, and its aromatic edge stands up to the smoke.
Bottles to try:
Latteria has a compact, straw-coloured paste whose eyes shrink as it ages. A dry Friulian Chardonnay with yellow apple and stone fruit has the breadth for a wheel of some months, and its high acidity cuts the fat.
Bottles to try:
Formadi frant is soft and savoury, with a piquancy that varies from one cheese to the next. A skin-fermented Ribolla's tannic grip and acidity stand up to that piquancy without being flattened.
Bottles to try:
Formaggio salato is soft and made savoury by brine, so it wants a white with acidity. A dry Malvasia Istriana has stone fruit, a saline edge and enough freshness to balance the salt.
Bottles to try:
Formadi frant is soft and savoury, with cream in the paste and a piquancy that varies from one cheese to the next. A white fermented on its skins for weeks or months has the tannic grip and acidity to stand up to it.
Bottles to try:
Discover the artisanal process of crafting Prosciutto Crudo San Daniele ham with an exclusive guided factory tour followed by a tasting lunch of cured meats, cheeses, ...
Join a special guided visit and wine tasting surrounded by the enchanting landscape beloved and described by Ernest Hemingway in “Across the river and into the trees”
Tasting of 3 wines with a platter of cold cuts, a tour of the estate, the vineyards and Miravé. Extra: a quad bike tour through the vineyards and woods, and a tasting ...
The consortium says the milk is worked raw or thermised and never pasteurised.
At least 60 days. Qualigeo lists Fresco at 2 to 4 months, Mezzano at 4 to 10, Stagionato over 10 and Stravecchio over 18.
Qualigeo gives 5.5 to 8 kg, 27 to 35 cm across and a heel no higher than 8 cm.
Qualigeo names Prosecco, Friuli DOP wines, Raboso del Piave, Collio Ribolla Gialla, and Colli Orientali Picolit and Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso.
The consortium describes a smooth, elastic, light brown rind on a young cheese that turns drier and darker with age.
A cooperative dairy that does not buy milk but works it for its members, one member's share per day, according to the Slow Food presidium site.
Not a DOP. The Campolessi wheel is a Slow Food presidium and Latteria is on the Friuli-Venezia Giulia list of traditional agri-food products.
Aged wheels are grated or fried for frico; Wikipedia's article on frico names aged Montasio, Latteria or malga cheese of 6 to 12 months.
