Friuli, Venezia, Giulia - Little Pearls to Discover in these Great Wine Regions

Exciting things are happening to help you explore the three wine regions known as Friuli-Venezia-Giulia ---FVG for short.  The wonderful Chiara Tuppy from Vino e Sapori, spoke at the 2013 International Wine Tourism Conference that was held in Zagreb, Croatia. The theme for her discussion was the many ways her organization works to make it easier for visitors to experience what she termed, " Little pearls of discovery".  This coordinating center organizes information, events, disparate groups, etc to be able to help travellers design their own wine and food adventures.

From the logo you can see that wine, of course, is prominent.  But also art, history, agriculture, architecture and the wonderful culture that infuses the area with an indefatigable spirit of hospitality.

FVG Highlighted in red

Over the next few posts I will try to highlight some jewels of my own discovery, but here I wanted to highlight a great resource for you when you plan to visit this wonderful area.

The English site just came online.  You can explore for yourself here

There you will find collected all the information to match your available time and inclinations to the wonderful experiences that await you in FVG.  At Vini e Sapori,  they work with all the providers, large and small, and make sure that their operating hours are easily available to you.  You can search by your dates to find out what will be open. Or, you can easily locate the contact info for a place not listed to be open when you are there to set up an appointment.   Something wonderful they have done is set their members on a rotating schedule so that no matter when  you arrive, you will be able to find an interesting range of places to visit.  The larger places you would expect, but some of the most charming places are small and out of the way. Both are represented on the rotating schedule. And best of all: no reservations! Not just wine, but great agritourism hotels, delicious regional cuisine, fascinating farmhouses with cheeses and dairy straight from heaven.  Olives.  Did I mention wine? The site gives you tons of information.

You can tap into pre-designed itineraries whose stops are easily grouped to help you find your own way.  If this sounds like a lot of work, there are also links to tour operators who can make your trip easy, breezy with fun itineraries you can simply book online.  Either way (or both), the discoveries you make will be your treasures.

 I got to find out during my visit there earlier this year that Friuli, Venezia and Giulia all have wonderful climates for curing ham, growing grapes, making wine and living life in a lovely area as tasty as it is rich in culture.  I hope you get to see it with your own eyes...and by see I mean savor...and by savor I mean wine.  All this typing is making me thirsty!