The February 2026 issue of Mangiavino is a bimonthly magazine dedicated to the culture of wine and food, with a special focus on Friuli Venezia Giulia (FVG). This edition delves into the region’s rich enological traditions, culinary innovations, and territorial identity, offering readers a deep dive into local events, tastings, and the stories of passionate producers. Key Highlights: <ul><li>Wine Events &amp; Tastings: Coverage of prestigious events like the Teranum festival, showcasing the unique red wines of the Carso region, and the Vitae Guide 2026 presentation, featuring top-rated wines from FVG.</li><li>Wine Stories: A retrospective on the Tocai Friulano debate, the Pinot Bianco Toros vertical tasting, and the evolution of resistant Glera grapes for Prosecco production.</li><li>Culinary Traditions: Features on Montasio PDO cheese, San Daniele prosciutto, and the region’s gastronomic heritage, including recipes and local specialties.</li><li>Innovation &amp; Sustainability: Insights into resistant grape varieties, sustainable viticulture, and the future of Friulian winemaking.</li></ul>The magazine is a must-read for wine enthusiasts, food lovers, and travelers eager to explore the authentic flavors and cultural depth of Friuli Venezia Giulia. It bridges tradition and innovation, celebrating the region’s excellence in wine, food, and hospitality. Free with code MANGIAVINO

first second

CANCELLED DESIGNATION OF ORIGIN

future and innovation

WINE DOES NOT EXIST

THE RESISTANT GLERA KNOCKS ON THE DOOR OF THE PROSECCO MARKET

the vertical

TOROS THE CENTRAL EUROPEAN PINOT BIANCO

The assessments

Montasio PDO

flavours and traditions

COMBINING KNOWLEDGE WITH FLAVOUR

taste from trip

SAN DANIELE THE GENTLE HILL

the glass

PAOLO DONADON AND THE FLAVORS OF GIARDINETTO

agricultural policy,  he began,  and I would like to remind you that we were at a very particular moment in history. With the fall of the Berlin Wall, the European Union wanted to bring the Eastern European countries closer at all costs, so it agreed to Hungary s request for protection. It is not true that we did not try. In 2005, we went to Budapest to attempt mediation with the Hungarians, but they would not hear of it,even though they had always allowed the Czech Republic to produce wines under the name Tokaji.  Laurino also revealed some interesting facts about the saga of the new name, which was the talk of Friuli Venezia Giulia for months:  Someone had suggested Tai, like the classic Friulian  taglio  (a glass of wine,  Tai  in the Friulian language), but there were fears that it might clash with the Thailand-related adjective. Blanc, on the other hand, sounded too French. The two perspectives Excluding possible errors, and a public promotional campaign to launch the new name that certainly did not have the desired effect, it must be said that most of the wine community in Friuli Venezia Giulia is not losing sleep over the farewell to the name Tocai. In a recent in-depth report published by the news website UdineToday, experts such as oenologist and producer Stefano Trinco, Coldiretti president Martin Figelj and long-established 4 winegrower Dario Ermacora expressed their conviction that Friulano still has a lot to offer, emphasising how it has been transformed into a medium-high range product that is finally in demand abroad, unlike the old Tocai. The loss of the name would therefore have somehow filtered out producers, leaving only true connoisseurs of this grape variety in the field. And production has remained stable, but with a tendency to grow. Jermann s choice  I am very sorry that it can no longer be called Tocai,  replies Silvio Jermann, creator of legendary wines such as Vintage Tunina, when asked a specific question.  Even before the controversy over the name, I wasn t producing pure Tocai, even though Capo Martino is a blend with 70% of what is now known as Friulano.   A choice,  Jermann explains,  that stems from my experience of a few years in Canada. There I realised that, internationally, the name Tocai was associated with Hungarian wine, and we were paying the price for the notoriety of that product. That s why I decided to focus on a company name.  And the other Tokaji? But did Hungarian wine, constantly mentioned in the Tocai affair, ultimately benefit from the exclusive rights obtained from the European Union? It is not easy to answer this legitimate question because in Italy there are no complete and public official historical series on production values and turnover. The limited data available nevertheless indicate a decline in production for Tokaji as well, which, unlike its Friulian counterpart, is a sweet wine: from 223,000 hectolitres in 2018 to 129,000 in 2023, while export turnover is expected to remain stable at around  10 million per year and average bottle prices on the domestic market are expected to rise slightly. In short: when Athens weeps, Sparta does not laugh. 

future and innovation ] WINE DOES NOT EXIST [by Matteo Bellotto ] I admit it candidly. The title is designed solely to draw you to the first line, among these words: to make you read them, to make you stay or to let you go. It s up to you, but I will try, among these letters that chase each other to find meaning, to delve deep into what the word  present  means, and then let go of other words that cannot dwell in the present. Now follow me  A winter day A splendid winter day has just ended. The few hours of daylight have treated the eyes to views that only the Friuli Venezia Giulia region can offer, with the infinite embrace of the Alps welcoming anyone who decides to venture there. I left the cold outside to converse with the darkness and the stars that compete with the streetlights for light. The warmth of the radiator next to my chair accompanies the sounds of the keyboard, while the cat, stretched out like a sphinx on the bed, halfcloses its eyes, keeping watch over the noises of the house. I opened a bottle of Pinot Bianco Friuli Colli Orientali, which was a gift from a friend and had been waiting for a while to relax in the glass. The wine is cold, aloof, delicate and reminds me of the smile on my friend s face when he was giving it to me. The stereo is playing Nick Cave s dark melodies, while outside you can hear the voices of groups of friends enjoying the onset of the evening. The world that runs through me Around me, I feel the universe manifesting itself through my body, and the wine I am tasting reminds me that I am part of this universe, of this indistinct whole of all elements. As Spinoza said: deus sive natura, God is nature, the whole, every world and every part that makes us perceive our existence. I don t want this to sound like a rhetorical game of chasing words, but let me tell you something: right now, wine doesn t exist, but wine is me and the world that flows through me. In the complex and profound concept of terroir, where the elements of land, place, climate and man come together, we always try to find a synthesis through only one of the elements at a time. Often, during tastings, I have heard people say,  and then there is the human element... , correctly referring to how wine is linked to its producer, but too often without taking into account the taster, the diner, the person drinking the wine as part of the concept of terroir. Over time, this gap has created the distance we now talk about between generations, where wine, with its conflicting concepts (geology, often oversimplified, climate, and all the other elements 5 

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