Miani, Friulano, 2023

Friulano is the workhorse grape of northeast Italy, but in Enzo Pontoni's hands it becomes something else entirely. Miani is an allocation-only estate famous for old vines, brutally low yields, and fewer than 700 cases of everything combined, farmed on the ancient ponca marl of Colli Orientali del Friuli. Pontoni's Friulano trades the grape's everyday image for real depth and cut, a white built with enough extract and structure to reward a few years in the cellar. It is a rare chance to taste what a native Friulian variety can do when a grower refuses to cut a single corner.