from Gambero Rosso  2001:
Alessandro and Maura Mauri call Pinot Grigio a "technological" wine and an ambassador for the region. Their version has superbly elegant aromas, with hints of roses, orange and melon. These are echoed on the palate, where they are joined by yellow peach in a delicious progression of remarkable breadth and rich texture. To round off, the fruit on the nose returns in the leisurely finish. Three glasses, then for a wonderful wine.
The Gortmarin also wound up there around 90 points. A Bordeaux blend with an impenetrable color, it unfurls rich aromas of mulberry jam, cassis, pipe tobacco and milky coffee on the nose. The palate impresses with its softness and concentration, the mulberry, cassis, coffee, Peruvian bark, and mint lingering in the finish.
Tocai and Pinot Bianco vinified in stainless steel, together with wood-fermented sauvignon and chardonnay, go into the blend for the butter-soft Arbis Blanc, which offers aromas of orange, apricot and pear on nose and palate.

Tocai Friulano

As usual, the Borgo San Daniele Tocai is one of a kind. Vineyard and cellar management policies conspire to keep its grassy and almondy varietal hints well under control. The result is a sunny, Mediterranean wine that purists might frown at but is undeniably excellent. There are dried roses, melon, peach and citrus fruits on the nose while the finish is laced with sweet almond. Lingering peach and citrus come through on the warm rich palate.

You can't create a myth overnight. You need the support of time and the influence of place. The collective imagination is full of picturesque explanations of the origin of this variety. More prosaically, it was first recorded in the Austrian agricultural register of 1810 and Dalmasso attempted the first scientific description in 1933. One thing is sure -- you can't do without this great Friuli white in your cellar. Tocai is grown everywhere in the region but its varietal character always stands out. A combination of experience, sympathetic handling and technology have produced a wine that at its best has complex aromas of nettle and almond, softness on the palate and a slight bitter almond note in the finish -- features which should put an end once and for all to the dispute between Tocai and Tokaji. The Hungarian cousin is a dessert wine, aged in wood for at least five years, which can reach up to 15 degrees of alcohol and over 5% residual sugar. In other words, totally different from the Friuli white. A wine incapable of ambiguity, to be served at a temperature of 12 _ 14 degrees, alongside the authentic, traditional dishes of classic Italian cuisine.

Production Zone: Braida della Colubice, in the commune of Cormòns

Pinot Grigio takes its name from the characteristic grey color of the grape. It is a mutation of Pinot Noir and, color apart, it maintains nearly all the features of the parent variety. It arrived in Italy around 1830, but initially gave disappointing results. Pinot Grigio needs very specific growing conditions with cool, well-drained soils. It has found an ideal habitat in Friuli where it is now firmly established, producing regular but never abundant yields. The bunch is small, cylindrical and very compact with ears that sometimes resemble a second bunch. It needs very dense planting and ripens relatively early. It can be vinified off the skins, the method that produces greater finesse, or with short skin contact, which gives the wine a hint of the copper-grey color of the grape.

Production Zone: Bosc di Sot, in the commune of Cormòns
Vinification: Grape crush followed by maceration on the skins at 30 degrees centigrade, soft pressing, cleaning of the must and temperature-controlled fermentation. Sur lies ageing until the late spring in different types of maturing casks. Assemblage and unfiltered bottling at the end of the summer.
Color: Antique golden yellow.
Nose: When young, ripe fruit prevails, principally pears. With time it acquires notes of dry hay and roasted almonds.
Palate: Full and soft, balanced and fruity, with elegant aromatic length.

Food matches: Ideal for dishes such as rich soups or risotto with white meat, boiled meats or chicken. Can also be served with medium strong cheeses.

Arbis is an ancient name for a young wine with a message about flowers and aromatic herbs. In Friulan arbis means grass. The natural grasses, mown by hand, which grow between the rows of the vineyard, give the wine its name. Grass in the vineyard is the best way to mitigate the effects on the soil There are as many herbs on this earth as aromas in the wines that are produced on it.  But there are only two Arbis(es).  This red one is a ruby shade, racy on the nose with its lightly herbaceous character and red berries -- cherry, strawberry, raspberry.  Fruit aromas produced by the balanced union of two distinguished varieties, Cabernet and Pignolo.  The first is the ancient representative of its place of origin, the Gironde, where it certainly predates the second.  The second, with its robust personality, is stubborn and unequivocal in its choice of sites (dry and ventilated) but it rewards the grower who dedicates its loves attention with its youthful intensity.  With age on the other hand it acquires the fullness of body that lies behind the success of many of the great red wines of the world.