Top Italian White Wines, According To A New York City Master Sommelier

When Master Sommelier Laura Maniec recommends a wine region that always over-delivers, one listens, as she has been a superstar in the New York City area for well over a decade. One of her numerous accolades was becoming one of 2013’s “Sommeliers of the Year” by Food & Wine Magazine. Today, she is the owner and CEO of Corkbuzz, a NYC wine bar with anywhere up to 50 wines by the glass and four locations with special events and even classes. In a city where it is near impossible to survive past a handful of years, after over 12 years since her Union Square flagship location opened, it is still considered one of the best wine bars in NYC.

Regarding Laura’s go-to region for Italian white wines, she goes to the northeast region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, with Collio being a particular favorite.

“This wine-producing region was one of the first for white wines in Italy that I thought of as premium wines,” noted Laura. Before she founded Corkbuzz, Laura was the wine and spirits director of a large restaurant group that once had four fine-dining Italian restaurants. The wine region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, “or more importantly,” she emphasized, the small high-quality designated area called Collio within the region was where she always went for expensive, premium white Italian wines.

Although they still over-delivered in the premium price category as the prices might have suggested that one is paying for only a very good wine, Collio white wines delivered a much higher outstanding quality, especially compared to other fine white wines from other countries that cost significantly more. Laura knew if a customer wanted an “intense, elegant white wine from Italy” that Collio was the ideal area to suggest. 

Collio DOC

The winegrowing area of Collio, with the status of DOC as it is deemed a high-quality Italian wine appellation, has a half-moon shape that can be noticed on a map. It enjoys vineyards on slopes gifted with lots of sunlight and winds from the Adriatic Sea that carry warm temperatures that help to grow white wine grapes with concentration, depth, and complexity, with the cooler nights retaining acidity and aromatics. Natural barriers, such as a multitude of forests and the Julian Alps, protect the vineyards from cold winds that could hamper grape maturation. A special quality to the profile of these Collio white wines is the combination of richness with typical notes of minerality and salinity, as usually it is the lean, fiercely acidic wines that display mineral and saline notes. However, the soils of Collio are mainly made up of stratified marl and sandstone, which they call “ponca,” formed around 50 million years ago and are noted for giving it this saline mineral quality.

Around a dozen white grape varieties are grown in Collio, including native varieties such as Friulano and Ribolla Gialla and others such as Pinot Bianco and Pinot Grigio. Yet this is not the Pinot Grigio that dominates the marketplace as it is anything but simple and quaffable – a Collio DOC Pinot Grigio will be multifaceted with incredible depth of flavor and multilayered aromas; this Pinot Grigio makes the case that it is a noble variety meant for premium wine, so for those who want to up their Pinot Grigio game, there is no better place than Collio.

The area has a wealth of history and culture as it borders Slovenia and Austria and was influenced by different iterations of empires, so at various times in the past, the land was controlled by different governing bodies. Many wine producers’ ancestry is a mix of Slovenian, Austrian and Italian cultures, yet they are all bonded as a premium Italian white wine region (when Italian red wines dominate the premium wine conversations) that would never give up on the idea of investing in the highest quality wines, even when the world had no interest.

Some of these unrelenting wine warriors are the Muzic family who was first established in 1927, surviving devastating destruction during World War II and today they still have some plots that are 80-year-old vineyards, a cooperative called Cantina Produttori Cormòns that is operated by 120 local winemakers who call themselves a “family of families,” pooling money and resources so that they can afford the ideal practices in the vineyards and cellars, and the Livon family, who a month ago just celebrated their 60th anniversary as the founder’s children and grandchildren are all united in keeping the family passion and dream alive, even going to such great lengths as cellaring some of their top white wines for a few more years before they hit the market, such as their recently released 2021 Friulano.

Ideal Pairing

Laura Maniec spoke about the versatility of Collio white wines in pairing them with food, another reason why it is a go-to for her. But in other ways, it is a great pairing partner for Laura as she started Corkbuzz out of a mission to offer various wine experiences – a deep dive with classes, magical events for special occasions or a food and wine combination that blows one’s mind. Wine wisdom can be the purely sensory experience of a great lineup of wines, or it can be an abundance of knowledge about culture, technique and family stories or a little of both. The wines of Collio can over-deliver in every aspect and transcend most Italian white wine experiences as they awaken the wine drinker’s mind to a whole other level of possibilities.

Link to original Forbes article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/cathrinetodd/2024/10/04/top-italian-white-wines-according-to-nyc-master-sommelier/

2023 Humar, Ribolla Gialla, Collio DOC, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy: 100% Ribolla Gialla. A beautiful Ribolla Gialla wine that shows the lovely qualities of the variety such as floral notes that lean towards citrus blossom and juicy peach flavors on the palate with marked acidity and finishing with a saline minerality.

2023 Cantina Produttori Cormòns, Pinot Bianco, Collio DOC, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy: 100% Pinot Bianco. There are some Pinot Bianco that could go head to head with some of the top elegant Chardonnay wines of the world as it has real weight on the palate that is mouth-filling with a softer acidity than the Ribolla Gialla and the layers of rich fruit flavors such as apple tart and lemon meringue pie has a backbone of intense minerality that takes this wine to the next level.

2023 Muzic, Pinot Grigio, Collio DOC, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy: 100% Pinot Grigio. An outstanding example of a high-quality Pinot Grigio, and yes, they do exist! Complex nose of Brazil nut, wet stones and hint of white pepper with delectable plush apricot fruit and pear crisp with bright acidity and a long, flavorful finish.

2021 Livon, Friulano, Manditocai Vineyard, Collio DOC, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy: 100% Friulano. Friulano is known as the grape variety which is the wine of Friuli-Venezia Giulia’s heart. An enticing nose with aniseeds, almond paste and honeysuckle with a real zingy quality on the palate, along with lemon sorbet flavors and citrus peel that give it an overall refreshing quality.

2023 Ronco Blanchis, Sauvignon Blanc, Collio DOC, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy: 100% Sauvignon Blanc. Such a remarkable purity of fruit with a tropical flavor of ripe mango that dominates with a hint of fresh sage leaf and good weight on the midpalate that balances out the crisp acidity.

2021 Ferlat, Collio Bianco, Collio DOC, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy: Although Collio Bianco can be a blend of varieties, in this case it is 100% Pinot Bianco. Delicious baked apple pie with hazelnut and baking spices with the lingering aromas of warm croissants.

2015 Castello di Spessa, ‘San Serff’ Collio Bianco, Collio DOC, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy: The blend for this wine is not disclosed. This is a wonderful example of how well these Collio wines age, with almost a decade on this wine. A multifaceted nose with a smoky minerality, dried flowers and beeswax with lemon confit on the palate with pineapple upside-down cake and a powerful, focused finish that goes on and on.