he opinion most widely held among the experts is that the vine was introduced into Friuli by the Veneti, who settled in the region in the 13th and 12th centuries BC. While the decorations of numerous archaeological objects excavated in the area indicate that wine was made and drunk in Friuli, little is know about the activity in pre-Roman times.It is apparent, however, that winemaking flourished and it has been established that various processes of vinification were experimentally tested with the result that wines of fine quality were obtained.
Good wines have always been made as well in the so-called Friuli lowlands, a strip of plain extending inland from the Adriatic coast for 30 kilometers.
Today, Acquileia is primarily an agricultural community but in the past it had considerable historical importance and was of considerable economic as well as artistic significance. Throughout the centuries of the Roman Empire, the colony of Aquileia, founded in 181 BC, served as a vital port for trade passing between the Adriatic and northern Europe and it was as well a center for the production of glass art objects.
The Greek historian Herodian, in telling the history of the Emperor Maximinian, described the countryside around Aquileia as a land adorned with leafy garlands. He was referring to the vines that were planted in combination with and equidistant from trees and trained in the "quadro giulivo" (or square).
According to the chronicles, the inhabitants of Aquileia destroyed the bridge over the Isonzo in 237 AD but the Emperor Maximinian managed to get his army across the river by binding together empty wine containers and laying fagots and dirt atop them to create a causeway.
In 534, Theodatus, king of the Ostrogoths, and Amalasuntha, his cousin who was for a short time regent of the kingdom, expressed great appreciation for the premium wines of Aquileia.
