Raboso Piave

Also known as Friularo.

A deeply colored, high-acid, high-tannin native red of the Piave river valley in eastern Veneto, documented there since the 1600s. Venetian sailors nicknamed it "vin de viajo" (wine of travel) for its unusual resistance to aging and transport. It ripens late, and today accounts for only a small share of Veneto's vineyards after a long 20th-century decline.

Registered in the National Vine Variety Register as MASAF scheda 203, distinct from the related Raboso Veronese (scheda 204). "Friularo," the traditional name of the wine from Bagnoli di Sopra, is not itself a separate registered variety — a search of the national register under that name returns no result — but the local dialect name for this same Raboso Piave grown in the Bagnoli area, where it must reach a minimum 90% share; it is also the principal grape (minimum 70%) of Piave Malanotte/Malanotte del Piave, where the remainder is largely made up by Raboso Veronese.