Modo di Bere: Wine & Language
Modo di Bere: Wine & Language
Rose Thomas Bannister
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S4E7 The Boot in 20: Friuli-Venezia Giulia, with Paul Balke
1 hour 47 minutes Posted Oct 26, 2025 at 3:00 pm.
Paul Balke, expert on the wines of Friuli-Venezia Giulia
The map of North Adriatic wine regions
The divided hills of Collio and Brda
The harsh rock of the Karst
The undersung wine region of Kvarner
History of the border that divided Collio and Brda
The dreamy blue sky of the Northern Adriatic
The Mediterranean climate of the Northern Adriatic
A European cherry festival
Why is it called Friuli-Venezia Giulia?
Colli Orientali: A high quality wine from the plains
Refosco: an underrated red wine from Grave and Isonzo
Roman history in unmissable Aquileia
Ernest Hemingway in Friuli
Collio as the Barolo, Bordeaux, the Montalcino, of the North Adriatic
Wine on the Slovenian side of the Collio-Brda border
Sponsor Intro: Culture Without Borders
Vipava, the smiling valley
Indigenous wine grapes of the Karst
The lost vineyards of Trieste
The real history of Prosecco
The wine regions of the Istrian Peninsula
The many faces of the Malvasia grape family
Istria: one of the most wonderful places in Europe
Who is making wine in the Kvarner today?
What does refosco wine taste like?
Schioppettino, a fresh and peppery red wine
Pignolo: the next Barolo?
Historic and versatile: Ribolla Gialla
The origins of the orange wine movement
Picolit: an outstanding, endangered late harvest wine
Versatile Verduzzo: from frizzante to late harvest
Why you should drink more dessert wine
Ad for Culture Without Borders free online language exchange
What’s so special about Ponca soil?
How French grapes came to Friuli-Venezia Giulia
The tangled naming history of Sauvignonasse fka Tocai Friulano
Friuli makes some of the world’s best Pinot Blanc
The fine still Glera wine of Trieste
Linguistic diversity in the northern Adriatic
Julius Caesar in historic Cividale
You can write Prosecco back labels in Slovenian!
Why Friuli makes the best chairs
Why Friuli makes the best prosciutto
A short introduction to North Adriatic cheese
The town you cannot miss: Trieste
Gorizia and Nova Gorica are like going back in time
Grado is like Venice but older!
Hiking through Istrian vineyard Villages on the Alps Adria trail
Slovenia is very sporty
Paul Balke speaks a lot of languages
Paul Balke’s fantastic wine travel book
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Show notes
The sheer exuberance of Paul Balke's devotion to Italian wine regions bubbles up like a glass of prosecco—which, we learn in this episode, did not originate in Veneto, but rather in the village of Prosek, near Trieste.
This special, double-size installment of The Boot in 20 is a true deep dive. Even diehard fans of Friulian wines will learn indigenous grapes they've never heard of before. Those who listen to the end will get the skinny on the world's most exciting slices of ham!
Note: Paul Balke currently lives in rural Calabria and we struggled with our connection and other technical issues. While the audio quality does not quite match our usual standards, we think Paul's incredibly educational perspective is worth it. The Boot in 20 series features an interview with an expert on the wines of Italy's 20 regions, including grapes, wines, climate, history, culture, and advice for planning a visit. 
After hearing this episode, you'll understand the geopolitical history that leads Paul to insist on discussing the wines of Friuli-Venezia Giulia in context with the wines of western Slovenia and the Croatian part of the Istrian peninsula. 
Inspired to plan a trip to this region? You must consult Paul's beautiful book, North Adriatic. You can order it from Paul directly at his website, where you can also learn about Paul's winemaking and piano music!Paul's website: paulbalke.comFollow Paul on Instagram: instagram.com/paulbalke 
If you love this show and want it to continue, support Modo di Bere on Patreon.  www.patreon.com/MododiBere
SPANISH LEARNERS NEEDED! This episode is brought to you by Culture Without Borders Language Collective, our exclusive sponsor for the month of October 2025. If you've been wishing for real people to practice your Spanish with, CWB is looking for more English-speaking Spanish learners to join their monthly language exchange.These online meetups are completely FREE for participants.
Visit cwbcollective.com and subscribe to their newsletter to get the dates for the next meetup.
 
Ascolta il podcast in Italiano / Listen to the podcast in Italian!Cerca / Search: Modo di Bere Italiano
The podcast is on YouTube @mododiberepodcast
 
Modo di Bere is a multiplatform publication by Rose Thomas Bannister. In addition to this podcast, Rose Thomas also makes:
A newsletter! Sign up for Modo di Bere Magazine at www.mododibere.comA travel show! Subscribe to Modo di Bere TV  youtube.com/@mododibereMany friends! Meet them when you follow @mododibere on Instagram and TikTokMusic composed by Ersilia Prosperi for the band Ou: www.oumusic.bandcamp.comBuy their latest album at https://folderol.it/ou/
This episode was produced and recorded by Rose Thomas BannisterVideo and audio edited by Giulia Àlvarez-KatzAudio assistance by Steve Silverstein
This podcast uses Podbean for stats, and dynamic audio. Learn more on this podcast's About tab. Dynamic Audio may cause this episode's timestamps to be slightly off.
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