Vinea Marson Friulano #7 2017

Winemakers in the Friuli region of north-east Italy have been making skin contact wines well before it was cool (you could argue they made it cool). This wine pays homage to the Marson’s roots in the same region. It’s a skin contact style made with world class precision.

Wow, crazy sexy colour; like the flesh of an almost-too-ripe but juice-drippingly perfect summer peach. Time on skins lends a waxy, sultry savouriness to aromas of grapefruit, dehydrated pineapple crisps and earthy saffron. It’s very dry with a mouth-puckering phenolic (white tannin) grip countered by mouth-watering acidity. It’s all about a chalk-dust texture initially but then a wave of football oranges (flesh, pith and zest intermingling) progresses into those bursting peaches before settling into mango fruit leather.

This is an exciting wine that challenges perceptions and regularly invites you back for another sip to try to understand it. Maybe don’t try. The Marson’s recommend pairing it with Frico, a traditional dish that is essentially a crispy cheesy potato and onion pancake; I’m not going to argue with that.

Nicole Bilson

Wine Critic at Winepilot

Nicole loves wine. So much so that she gave up a successful career in Pharmacy, perfected her spitting technique, and moved from sunny Queensland to the wine-drenched laneways of Melbourne. Stints in hospitality, wineries, retail, sales and marketing filled the next few years while Nicole built her knowledge and searched for the right path. She completed the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET) Diploma in 2016 and became a certified WSET Educator the following year. She now juggles a number of roles including teaching people about wine, curating wines lists for restaurants and bars, judging in Australian wine shows and, of course, writing. In 2016 she won the Negociants Working With Wine writing award and has since contributed to Gourmet Traveller WINE, Halliday Wine Companion Magazine and Nourish Magazine.

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