The quality of a wine depends essentially on a few primary factors : the nature of the soil, a particularly fortunate position, the climate, the species of vine. All of these factors are present in the "Grave" area, where the terrain, the sun and the vines have forged an alliance.
The zone known as "Le Grave" covers a vast area (about 7,000 Ha.) in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia Region, and sits astride the river Tagliamento between the two provinces of Udine and Pordenone.
The elevated plains of Friuli, sheltered by the curve of the foothills of the Alps, are characterised by a natural countryside of distinct originality - the "magredi" or "grave". We are talking of an extensive zone formed of large alluvial cones by the rivers Meduna, Cellina and Tagliamento, which in the course of thousands of years, have deposited enormous quantities of chalky calcium magnesium carbonate torn from the mountains by the violence of the waters and dragged along the river beds into the valleys. The whole plain rests on an alluvial terrain rough, in the more northern parts of the DoC zone, only to become much finer, little by little, as the rivers pursue their course down to the sea.
The mountains, besides being the origin of the terrain where grapes are now cultivate with success, have sheltered them from the currents of cold air coming from the North.
This fact, together with the beneficial effect of the nearness of the Adriatic Sea, has combined to create a climate particularly suited to the cultivation of grapes. There is, however, yet another reason for making the "Grave" an ideal terrain for viniculture. The extensive stretch of stones at the base of the plants has, in fact, a double favourable effect. During the day it reflects the heat and the light necessary for ripening the grapes; during the night it gives back the heat accumulated in the hours of sunlight and in this way keeps climatic conditions constant.
An influence of this nature is important especially during the last nights of summer, since it allows the maximum protraction of the vintage peiod, that means the picking of grapes with a greater sugar content, more aromatic and better scented.
It was not by chance, over a century ago, that some vine-growers used to place stones at the base of their vines, reproducing in this fashion the conditions that the terrain "Le Grave" employs as a typical characteristic of its environment.