I had much higher hopes for this white wine after the debacle with the previous Friuli white wine. When I pulled out a real cork, I knew we were onto something. The wine was a bright golden yellow in the glass and smelled good, but would it taste good?

The name Tocai Friulano sounds tropical to me, for some reason I think tropicana and then the Chiquita banana lady. Maybe that’s why I smelled bananas as the first, and most powerful, scent on the nose. It had an overall tropical vibe, with just a hint of peach.

It tasted like bananas too. I’m starting to wonder if all white wine is going to taste like bananas! This one tasted like alcoholic bananas, almost like a banana flavored liquor. There was also a bit of honey and vanilla, as well as a woody flavor that may have actually been almonds, which is supposed to be one of the more pronounced notes of this grape. It was pretty acidic, which balanced the sweet flavors.

I noticed that the label on the bottle actually only says Friulano. According to the Oxford Companion, the grape Tocai Friulano is actually Sauvignonasse. Tocai Friulano is the Friulan name for it. Apparently, a renaming was necessary, no explanation is offered as to why. Under consideration were Sauvignonasse, Friulano and Vert. Looks like Friulano won out. This grape consists of 30% of white wine grape acreage in the region and is meant to be drunk young. Mission accomplished there, we even used the last glass-worth in the sauce for our chicken a few nights ago, which means even Connor got to enjoy it!

The Score: ★ ★ ★