Gorizia is a city and province located in the region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia in the north eastern edge of Italy along the Slovenian border. The city is often referred to as the entryway from Italy into Central Europe.
An Enchanting Excursion through Gorizia’s hills
The surroundings of Gorizia offer an enchanting and relaxing landscape of rolling hills dotted with wine bars, vineyards and wineries where crisp white wines full bodied reds are produced. The hills are located on the Slovenian border, which their main center is in the Italian town Cormons. Thanks to the hilly terrain and its proximity to the the sea, the territory creates a unique microclimate ideal for the cultivation of wine.
But Gorizia’s hills are also known for their splendid landscape made of green hills covered with rows of vines that in spring are also populated with the colours of cherry trees in bloom. The hills are beautiful to discover on a Vespa to see the nature as well as the shapes of scattered houses and white villages gathered around sharp bell towers. Among the hills there is the Gorizia Karst which is the area that was the scene of many battles during the first World War, and today it stands as a testimony to that time especially with the Redipuglia War Memorial which is a monumental cemetery for fallen Italian soldiers.
Gastronomic Delicacies of the Territory
Between the Isonzo river and the Judrio rive lies the Collio DOC area, which represents one of the most prized areas for wine production in Italy. The quality of the wines produced is thanks to a perfect microclimate for to grow wine due to the mild climate, the slopes and the proximity to the sea. All this allows the cultivation of nearly two thousand hectares of specialized hillside vineyards that produce excellent quality wines such as Pinot Grigio, Pinot Bianco, Friulano, Sauvignon, Ribolla Gialla, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Collio Bianco
The area is also known for other delicacies such as the Cormòns ham and the red chicory “Rosa di Gorizia”. Moreover, thanks above all to the meeting between the culinary traditions of Austrian, Friulian and Slovenian cuisine, we find dishes such as goulash, blecs, zlikrof (a kind of stuffed ravioli), bread dumplings, kipfel ( fried dough similar to gnocchi), repa garba and other typical sweets such as putizza, pinza, strudel, krapfen and palacinke (an omelette that can be sweet or savory). These local products can be found in the restaurants of the province as well as at village festivals that animate the landscape from May in September.
