''Collio Goriziano'' (sometimes designated simply as ''Collio'' or ''Collio DOC'') is an Italian wine and winemaking region in northeast Italian region of

Friuli-Venezia Giulia Friuli-Venezia Giulia () is one of the 20 regions of Italy and one of five autonomous regions with special statute. The regional capital is Trieste on the Gulf of Trieste, a bay of the Adriatic Sea. Friuli-Venezia Giulia has an area of and a ...

, located in the northernmost part of the Province of Gorizia, in the Italian part of the Gorizia Hills, which extend to neighboring

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

. It has been recognized with the official the status of '' DOC''. ''Colli Goriziano'' predominantly produces white

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

s with Friulano, Ribolla Gialla, Malvasia Istriana, Chardonnay, Pinot bianco, Pinot grigio, and Sauvignon blanc being the leading varietals. Red wine is also produced under the ''Collio Rosso'' designation and is usually a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon.M. Ewing-Mulligan & E. McCarthy ''Italian Wines for Dummies'' pg 132-140 Hungry Minds 2001 The name ''"Collio"'' is taken from the Italian word ''colli'' which means hillsides and describes the terrain of the ''Collio Goriziano'' region. The ''Collio'' extends from the Judrio river in the west, where it borders the '' Colli Orientali del Friuli'' DOC, to the Slovenian border on the east. To the south, it is bordered by the ''Isonzo del Friuli'' DOC. Most of the region's vineyards are centered on the ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' of Cormons. The

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, water, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from ''soil'' by re ...

of the region is composed of calcareous marl and flysch

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

. The 4th largest DOC in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia in terms of areas planted, it is also the 4th leading producer in terms of volume, trailing the ''Friuli Grave'', ''Isonzo'' and ''Colli Orientali del Friuli'' region in production. Over 85% of the ''Collio'' production is in white wine grape varieties. While still low in comparison to the rest of Italy, the yields in the ''Collio Goriziano'' are higher than the 3.5 tons an

acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

average of the ''Friuli-Venezia Giulia''. In the ''Collio'', the yields average around 4.4 tons/acre (77 hectolitres/

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...

), though some quality conscious producers have lower yields.J. Robinson (ed) ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'' Third Edition pg 187 Oxford University Press 2006 Winemaker Mario Schiopetto was one of the first to incorporate German wine-making techniques, like cold fermentation, to white wine production in the ''Collio Goriziano''. Today, winemaking on the region is very technologically advanced, with refrigerated fermentation tanks, pneumatic winepress, and centrifugal bottling systems. The objective of most ''Collio Goriziano'' winemakers is to maximize the fresh fruit and pure varietal characteristic of the grape. To that extent, oak influence is not widely used in this region, though some winemaking are experimenting with its use and different blends of grape varieties to produce more complex wine.

References

{{coord, 45, 59, 11, N, 13, 29, 33, E, region:IT-36_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Italian DOC Wine regions of Italy Geography of Friuli-Venezia Giulia