Until 2007 this grape was called Tocai Friulano. Protection of the Hungarian name Tokaj forced the term to be dropped, and since then labels read simply Friulano. Same grape, new name — which is why older and newer bottles of the same wine carry different wording.
The second confusion is ampelographic, and more curious. Friulano is identical to Sauvignonasse, or Sauvignon Vert, a variety that in Chile was for decades mistaken for Sauvignon Blanc and picked as such. It is related neither to Hungarian Tokaji nor to Sauvignon Blanc.
In Friuli it is the house white, the wine of the tajut, the glass drunk standing at the bar. It gives dry, medium-bodied wines with pear and almond and a saline thread that reads with particular clarity on the ponca marl of the Collio. Do not confuse it with Verduzzo Friulano, which shares the adjective but is another grape altogether, behind the sweet Ramandolo.
