2003 La Viarte Pinot Grigio

This wine came from the Kermit Lynch Friuli sampler offered in the March newsletter.  La Viarte means Springtime in Friulian (isn't hat a fun word to say, Friulian) so it was an appropriate choice.  I always like the wines of spring.  Picnic wines.  Wines that can be served slightly chilled.  The before dinner drink.  The aperitif is an understated beautiful thing.

The region of Friuli sits in the northeast corner of Italy, northeast of Venice.  It borders both Austria and Slovenia.  In fact many towns have Slovenian names and the many people speak more Slovak than Italian.  This wine comes from the Colli Orientali.  The other major wine producing region in Friuli is the Collio.

Kermit's story is:

I arrived in the Friuli this summer with a bunch of winery addresses to visit, but
none of the wines tempted me. My hotel/restaurant wine list was full of unknown

labels, so I picked a Grigio from a winery called La Viarte and . . . here it is. Obviously the quality appealed to me, but I want to use this page to call attention to their prices, which pleasantly surprised me.

 

This wine is probably best when not seriously dissected.  (I guess most are)  There was an initial stony, flinty character to the wine that seemed to blow off after about 45 minutes.  Grapefruit skins, lime, a little herb, and maybe a drop of sweetness at the end.  I would have liked a little more of everything this wine had.  Turn up the volume just a half notch.  Enjoyable nonetheless.

$13.95 per bottle.