Picolit

Picolit is an ancient variety from the Friuli-Venezia-Giulia area of Italy. It was used to make a sweet wine that was considered the finest in Europe in the 1800s and was a favorite amongst the royal families and the Hapsburgs. A Venetian playwright Carlo Goldoni also praised its virtues describing it as "the delight of popes, cardinals and emperors". It is a particularly challenging variety owing to its extremely delicate nature. As a result it is subject to falling under the spell of cryptogamic diseases leading to floral abortion and the transformation of the grape bunches which end up looking like winglets. This in turn yields only 10-15 tiny grapes. Its character makes it difficult to harvest, which can only be done manually and late in the growing season. As a consequence, no more than 50,000 liters of Picolit can be produced annually. It is mainly used in the production of sweet wines and is also known as Balafan, Peccoleto, Ranful Weiss, Wisellertraube Weiss and Uva del Friuli.