2021 Quealy Friulano, Mornington Peninsula

The variety behind some of northeast Italy’s most exciting whites, Friulano (née Tocai Friulano) first landed in Australia in the 1970s. Quealy sourced their cuttings from the vineyard of Slovenian émigré Denis Pasut in Mildura, grafting over a block of 1996 Chardonnay at their Balnarring vineyard as early as 2004. Above all, quality Friulano needs two things: low yields and lots of attention. “Friulano is a bugger to work with, but well worth the effort” notes Tom McCarthy. It is perhaps for these reasons the variety has yet to take off in Australia. Quealy manages yields at flowering—in effect halving the potential yields—and employs prudent canopy management to manage sun exposure.
 
The Friulano is all sourced from the organically certified winery vineyard in Balnarring. The fruit was handpicked on the 10^th of April, grapes were destemmed into a cooled open vat and fermented on skins for 12 days. The wine was gently pressed and went through malo before resting on lees in a mixture of barrel and tank.
 
A more restrained expression than its 2019 predecessor, this is beautifully pitched with pure stone fruit and orange citrus flavours underpinned by refreshing minerality. There’s plenty of savoury flavour spliced throughout the textural weight, grippy structure and intensely concentrated fruit. It’s skinsy, salty and mineral with a perfumed lift and a charming almond skin finish. Very food friendly and very delicious—an excellent release.