For far too long the Italian white wine category was given very little respect by many sommeliers putting together otherwise excellent wine lists at top restaurants. You’d see pages of Italian reds, and maybe half a page of whites. Thankfully that has changed of late, and from Etna in the south to Friuli in the north, Italian whites are finally gaining steam. But even in those days of slim representation, there was one name you would see reliably: Borgo del Tiglio. Nicolo Manferrari has spent the last four decades perfecting the art and science of white wine creation in Collio. And he continues on his path: Rather than jump on the “orange” wine train, like many of his neighbors in the region, Manferrari has held fast to what’s now considered the “traditional” style of Friulian white wine: crystalline, aromatic, fresh, mineral. Another way to say it would be “Burgundian,” as there was a time when white Burgundy was the benchmark of excellence for Friulian vintners. However you frame it, the truth is that this is one of the great white wines of not just Italy, but the entire planet.

BONUS: And for a very special treat, we have tiny amounts of Nicola’s “Grand Cru” masterpiece of Malvasia called simply “Italo & Bruno.” Click HERE to score a wine that is among the most complex and beautiful white wines in the world.

Manferrari originally studied to be a pharmacist, but when his father passed away in 1981, he found himself with a few hect