Matej Skerlj shows the elegance of Vitovska

Skerlj's skin fermented Vitovska isn't just a great wine, it's also a demonstration of how different this region is from its Friuli-Venezia-Giulia neighbours.

Enrico Maria Milič, the driving force of the Carso Local Action Group had some very wise words to share on my last visit. "Don't consider Carso part of Friuli", he cautioned, "The inhabitants of Carso and Trieste don’t think of themselves as Friulians. We definitely feel like ‘Triestini’ or ‘Carsolini’, some of us feel like Italians, Slovenes, Europeans or Triestines… For sure we are part of the administrative region named Friuli-Venezia-Giulia, but this is a governmental institution, not a cultural concept."