A Hungarian wine is the best white wine in the world!

The winemaker and sub-owner, Uroš Valcl, produced his first vintage at his family’s winery in 1999 and took over the running of Marof in 2009.

Their first vintage was in 2007 and quickly drew acclaim from major critics, including Jancis Robinson, who in 2008 named the Furmint her wine of the week...

The vineyards’ location is certainly perfect, lying in Haloze and Jeruzalem, often referred to as the ‘pearls’ of Slovenia.

This is a wonderland of sloping, winding vine terraces, where small villages are not only built in the valleys but also on the hilltops.

Up in the Grimogliano hills, in the Italian Friuli Venezia Giulia, overlooking the Slovenian border, lies the Tenuta Perusini.

The winery is renowned for its Picolit, a local variety preserved by earlier generations of Perusinis.

"Above all, I produce my wines for my friends, so, I cannot serve them wines I would not enjoy drinking myself. Never trust a winemaker who does not drink his own wine!"

“Blessed are the cheese makers”, we hear in the film ‘Life of Brian’. Of course, not literally. Perhaps we could also understand it as blessed are those who make Ramandolo. I personally understand it like this.

When this year I was once again invited to the huge wine competition, Councours Mondial de Bruxelles, I decided, without hesitation, that it was now Friuli’s turn, mostly because of the sweet wines.

You can see the point of all this when you pop out onto the terrace on a summer evening and start to talk to the personable couple, Peter and Linda, with a glass or two of wine.