typical products Wine and dine events take place all year round in Friuli Venezia Giulia: a tempting chance to spend a weekend enjoying good cuisine and fine wines as well as buying typical products. Each event offers the chance to spend one or more unforgettable days with the local population, maybe by combining the pleasures of the table with the discovery of one of the thousands of artistic and natural treasures only Friuli Venezia Giulia can offer! If you would like to taste wines, learn their history and buy them from the producers, you can turn to the around 120 wineries of the Movement of Wine Tourism, one of the mottos of which is the direct contact in the wine cellars and which organizes Open wineries every year on the last Sunday in May. the cuisine A mix of tastes and scents due to ethnic and cultural intertwining: this cuisine is the result of its territory (sea, mountains, plain, hills) and of various cultures, it is as varied as the local landscape. Gastronomy in Friuli Venezia Giulia is the result of the combination of three great cooking traditions - the mid-European, the Venetian and the Slav one - accompanied by a strong and tasty folk cuisine. The main representatives of the region are Montasio cheese and San Daniele ham, which, together with the oil from the Karst around Trieste, are products of protected origin (DOP). In addition there are dozens of excellent products that are mainly handmade and usually in limited amounts. A few examples are Tabor cheese from the Karst plateau, smoked ham from Sauris, pitina from Pordenone (a flavoured sausage), Carnic beans (every village produces a different variety), raw ham from the Karst, maize flour from Mortegliano, extra-virgin olive oil from the Collio area and from the Eastern Hills. Meat, dairy products, sausages, vegetables and legumes are the main ingredients of the tasty cuisine in Friuli, based on simple recipes and genuine products. Typical Friuli products are frico (mountain cheese flakes cooked slowly in a pan till a sort of swollen omelette comes out; potatoes or onions can be added), musèt and brovada (sausage with turnips macerated in must), barley and bean soup as well as plenty of other soups, Carnic cjalsòns (ravioli with sweet-sour stuffing), gubana (snail-shaped dessert from the Natisone Valleys with a rich filling made of dried fruit, raisins and candied citron, flavoured with spirit). wine At present, there are eight DOC (registered designation of origin) zones of Friuli-Venezia Giulia and they produce some among the most excellent Italian wines, going well with the peculiarities of local gastronomy. In particular, close to the seaside, the Friuli - Aquileia, Friuli - Latisana and Friuli - Annia DOC zones are to be mentioned; on the plain, the Friuli - Grave and Isonzo; in the hills, the Collio and Colli Orientali del Friuli (in the same zone, we can also find the very rare DOCG - registered and guaranteed designation of origin - Ramandolo, the only one in this region). Finally, in the Trieste hinterland, the Carso (Karst) DOC zone is not to be forgotten. Friulian Tocai is the standard-bearer of whites: dry and velvety to palate, with its straw-yellow colour, a flowery and fruit-rich fragrance, for Friulian people it is the wine for every occasion, playing a leading role during the tajut rite, that is to say, an irreplaceable aperitif which sees them gathered. Another autochthonous white wine is the Ribolla gialla, which has been grown on the hills of Rosazzo since the 14th century. Finally, it is important to mention sweet whites, the real treasure of Friulian oenology: the Picolit (it used to be a king's wine, enriching imperial tables; now it is a dessert wine to be enjoyed at the end of meals, sipping it like a cognac) and the Verduzzo friulano (Friulian Verduzzo), whose grapes also produce the Ramandolo, sole regional DOCG. Among the reds, the most widespread autochthonous wines are the Refosco dal peduncolo rosso, together with the Schiopettino, as much vigorous and fit for wood and long bottle ageing. However, we cannot forget to mention great wines of international origin, the vines of which have perfectly become acclimatised in this region since many decades and now fully express its terroir (earthy local flavour): grey, white and black Pinot, Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon, aromatic white Sauvignon, aromatic Traminer, Rhenish Riesling, Italic Riesling, Müller Thurgau, Moscato giallo (yellow Muscat), Moscato rosa (pink Muscat). A typical regional peculiarity are the frasche (bushes), run by small producers (in central and western Friuli, this name derives from the leafy branches used as a sign): they serve unbottled new wine, directly from their family cellar, together with cheese, sliced ham, sausages and salami. grappa The region of Friuli Venezia Giulia is not only renowned for its wines, but also for its distillates and grappa (natural spirit obtained by distilling wine or grape marc). Turning from a waste product during wine production to a noble and velvety distillate to be sipped at the end of meals, grappa is going through a well deserved period of success, thanks to wise and far-sighted producers who exploited and enhanced its aromas, thus dignifying traditional working processes.