The Collio Goriziano is located north of the Gorizia province, called by the Hapsburg “Nice of the Adriatic” is positioned in Friuli Venezia Giulia region. It’s a beautiful hilly area that partially rolls into nearby Slovenia where is called Goriska brda or Brda.
Just over one hundred kilometers northeast of Venice, squeezed between the Giulian Alps and the Adriatic sea, Collio Goriziano is a microregion also known as Collio DOC.
Collio Goriziano extends west of Slovenia, from the right bank of the river Isonzo to the river Judrio (where the Colli Orientali del Friuli DOC starts) and is a small but mixed and fascinating area producing some of the best worldwide known Italian white wines.
The word “Collio” derives from the Italian word “Colli” meaning hillsides as it describes the terrain of this Friuli Venezia Giulia area.
The town that it’s at the center of the Collio Goriziano winemaking area is Cormons: a beautiful little town that was a military post during the Roman time and maintained strategic importance throughout the centuries.
Since the 1970s, Collio Goriziano is one of the leading white wines producing areas in Italy, pioneering a vibrant, fresh white wine very appreciated all over the World.
The leading varieties are Friulano, Ribolla Gialla, Malvasia Istriana, Chardonnay, Pinot Bianco, and Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon but even if white wines production is 85% of the Collio Goriziano winemaking their red varieties as for example Collio Rosso, a red wine blend usually obtained mixing Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon.
The cold eastern winds meet the warmness of the Adriatic sea contributing to the health of the Collio Goriziano grapes that thrive on a calcareous marl soil and flysch sandstone: it’s called “Ponca”.
Crossroad of Friulian, Slovenian and Austrian people this charming, mysterious, and unique hillside area is a mix of little vineyards poetically disseminated around the so-called “Wine and Cherry road”, created in the Collio Goriziano in 1963 between the villages of San Floriano del Collio and Dolegna.
Visitors can stroll along this fairytale landscape scented with white cherry blossoms, visit ancient manors and castles, enjoy the wines, and the cuisine that reflects Collio Goriziano’s middle-European heritage with Slovenian, Hebrew, Hungarian and Austrian.