Friuli Colli Orientali

The Friuli Colli Orientali are the hills east of Udine, and this is where Refosco stops being a country red and becomes a serious one. The grape is specifically Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso — Refosco of the red stalk, named for the crimson pedicel that holds the berries to the bunch — and it is only one member of a whole family that carries the Refosco name. Grown on the marl-and-sandstone ponca of these slopes it gives a dark, violet-edged wine of unusually high acidity and firm tannin: plum, blackberry and bramble over a leafy, herbal edge, closing on the bitter-almond twist that is the variety's fingerprint.