Carso is an Italian

Italian wine

Italian wine is wine produced in Italy, a country which is home to some of the oldest wine-producing regions in the world. Italy is the world's largest wine producer, responsible for approximately one-fifth of world wine production in 2005. Italian wine is exported largely around the world and has...

 wine-producing zone located in the provinces Trieste

Province of Trieste

The Province of Trieste is a province in the autonomous Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Trieste.It has an area of 212 km², and a total population of 236,520...

 and Gorizia

Province of Gorizia

The Province of Gorizia is a province in the autonomous Friuli–Venezia Giulia region of Italy.-Overview:Its capital is the city of Gorizia. It belonged to the Province of Udine between 1924 and 1927 and the communes of Sonzia, Plezzo, Bergogna, Caporetto, Tolmino, Circhina, Santa Lucia d'Isonzo,...

 in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia

Friuli-Venezia Giulia wine

Friuli-Venezia Giulia wine is wine made in the northeastern Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Once part of the Venetian Republic and with sections under the influence of the Austro-Hungarian Empire for some time, The wines of the region have noticeable Slavic and Germanic influences...

 region, on the border with Slovenia

Slovenia

Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...

. It is classified as a Denominazione di Origine Controllata

Denominazione di Origine Controllata

Denominazione di origine controllata is a quality assurance label for food products, especially wines and various formaggi . It is modelled after the French AOC...

 (DOC) and produces both red and white wine. It takes its name from the Carso plateau.

Varieties and wine types

Traditionally, most of the red wine is produced from Terrano

Terrano (grape)

Terrano or Teran is a Slovenian dark-skinned grape varieties. It is a member of the Refosco family of grape varieties, which also includes Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso....

 grapes, and the white wine primarily from Malvasia Istriana grapes. However, a number of international varieties are also in cultivation.

Carso DOC wine can be produced either as Carso Rosso, with a minimum of 70% Terrano and a maximum of 30% of other local grape varieties, or as varietal Carso, with a minimum of 85% of the variety indicated and a maximum of 15% of other varieties allowed within the DOC zone. The following varietal Carso wines are allowed:

• Red wines
  • Carso Cabernet Sauvignon
    Cabernet Sauvignon
    Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Canada's Okanagan Valley to Lebanon's Beqaa Valley...
    
    
  • Carso Cabernet Franc
    Cabernet Franc
    Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone - as in the Loire's Chinon...
    
    
  • Carso Merlot
    Merlot
    Merlot is a darkly blue-coloured wine grape, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name Merlot is thought to derive from the Old French word for young blackbird, merlot, a diminutive of merle, the blackbird , probably from the color of the grape. Merlot-based wines...
    
    
  • Carso Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso
    Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso
    Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso is a red Italian wine grape grown predominantly in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of northeast Italy. The grape is a variety in the Refosco family and derives its name from its red stems...
    
    
  • Carso Terrano
    Terrano (grape)
    Terrano or Teran is a Slovenian dark-skinned grape varieties. It is a member of the Refosco family of grape varieties, which also includes Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso....
    
    

• Dry white wines
  • Carso Chardonnay
    Chardonnay
    Chardonnay is a green-skinned grape variety used to make white wine. It is originated from the Burgundy wine region of eastern France but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand...
    
    
  • Carso Malvasia
  • Carso Pinot Grigio
  • Carso Sauvignon
    Sauvignon blanc
    Sauvignon Blanc is a green-skinned grape variety which originates from the Bordeaux region of France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French word sauvage and blanc due to its early origins as an indigenous grape in South West France., a possible descendant of savagnin...
    
    
  • Carso Traminer
    Gewürztraminer
    Gewürztraminer is an aromatic wine grape variety that performs best in cooler climates. It is sometimes referred to colloquially as Gewürz, and in French it is written '...
    
    
  • Carso Vitovska
    Vitovska
    Vitovska or Vitouska, also known in Slovenian as Vitovska Grganja or Garganja is an Italian and Slovene wine grape predominantly planted in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region and in the Kras in the Slovenian Littoral. The name of the grape is of Slovenian origin, but is now mostly found in the lower...