We complete our ‘Giro di Vino Bianco di Italia’ with a stop in Isonzo, on Italy’s border with Slovenia.  A completely different animal than Elena Walch’s PG above, Ferlat’s undergoes an extended period of skin contact- as long as seven days for a portion of the cuvee- before pressing, absorbing a lot color as it macerates.  This process, called Ramato, is very typical in this part of the world, and was a precursor to the ‘orange’ wine movement that started here in Friuli, although the wines of this sort are, despite hues that range from salmon pink to electric magenta, are pure, clean and vibrant.  Ferlat’s is extraordinarily fun; redolent of dried strawberry, dried peach, Earl Grey tea, mulberry and wintergreen on a mid-weight frame with a firm, mineral-saline finish that makes it a wonderful partner to all kinds of foods- fish, fowl or meat.  With Friuli’s famously rich Frico, a potato and Montasio cheese sort of lasagna, it’s perfect!  Such a terrific and unusual wine! Pitch perfect.