Grape Variety: Refosco

Colour: Red

The red grape that intrigues us here is Terrano or Teran - better known as Refosco. There is plenty of ampelographical spaghetti to unravel. The full moniker of the grape that is most often used to make the finest “Refosco” wines in Friuli is named “Refosco dal Penduncolo Rosso” which means “Refosco with the red stem”. As with so many ancient varieties, however, there has been a considerable amount of both natural mutation and cross-breeding that has left the contemporary Refosco family with several “siblings”. As implied above, Refosco dal Penduncolo Rosso is considered to be the most noble of the varieties, but there are green stemmed versions, as well as a Croatian/Slovenian branch of the family that goes by the name of “Teran” in the former country, and as “Refosk” in the latter. To complicate matters, in many cases, both types of Refosco are planted side by side in the same vineyards. Furthermore, Refosco is cultivated a bit in neighbouring Veneto under the name “Terrano”, and further south in the Romagna region under the name “Cagnina”. And just in case you’re not yet completely confused, the “Mondeuse” variety from the Savoie region in France has been proven to be none other than Refosco, though precisely how and when it arrived there is uncertain.

Refosco dal Penduncolo Rosso seems to have, judging by references made to what is almost surely the same variety, a very long history in Friuli. The earliest references to the variety were made by the Roman historian Pliny the Elder in which he refers to a black-skinned grape with a red stem that produces good wine and which was the favourite wine grape of Livia, Augustus Caesar’s second wife. Later, in an early renaissance work entitled The Annals of Friuli published in 1390 by one Francesco di Manzano, the author also makes reference to a variety that is almost surely RdPR.
Enough grape nerdery. Call it what you will, this Terrano hits all my Marcillac buttons in delivering its refreshing, sappy cargo of wine-plasma. An alluring purple-black colour leads you to sniff a wet-slate, violet-scented nose shot through hints of wild red berries and brambly fruit. The terrific belt of acidity on the palate is reinforced by mineral stoniness akin to melted iron filings (soils in this part of Friuli are very high in iron), red cherry-stone fruit and blackberries. The wine is light-bodied (11.5%) and the acidity washes the mouth beautifully. Bye-bye bottle… It doesn’t really matter what you trough with this. It would be good with lamb or beef stew, anything cooked with duck fat, or a damn fine osso buco. Classic Friulian dishes include Muset co le brovade: boiled spiced gelatinous pork sausages with grated pickled white turnips, or Marcundela, sliced sausage fried in butter, then served with a plate of pasta or an omelette.