ITALIAN DESSERT WINES

[Thomas]

winedope, Picolit gets its name from its minuscule (or piccolo) production on the vine. It is believed to be a wild vine because it has great difficulty pollinating, which is why grapes are cultivated through grafting, to perpetuate self-pollinating varieties. The grape's home is Colli Orientali del Friuli DOC, in Friuli Venezia Giulia. Its wines are usually delicate, on the sweet side and overpriced. I referred in an above post to the "abundance" of Picolit relative to its vineyard production. What I meant is that a lot of Picolit is stretched, and Verduzzo is likely the stretcher of choice.

On its own, Verduzzo is astrigent and uninteresting as a dry wine, but as a sweet wine it can sometimes be quite pleasant--I like it better than Picolit. Verduzzo flourishes on hillsides and does quite well in the Colli Orientale del Friuli DOC, but also grows in the Grave DOC of Friuli Venezia Giulia.

Oh yeah, for the benefit of ww: these grapes is white.

[This message has been edited by foodie (edited 04-02-2002).]