Description
Picolit (also known as Piccolit and Piccolito) is a white Italian wine grape grown predominately in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of northeast Italy. The grape is allowed in the Denominazione di origine controllata e garantita (DOCG) wines of Colli Orientali del Friuli. The grape is most commonly associated with sweet dessert wines often made in the passito style. Historically planted in poor and infertile vineyards, the grape gets it name from the very small piccolo yields that the vine produce. The grape had a worldwide reputation in the 18th century when it was featured in royal courts from Great Britain to the Russian Empire. While experiencing cult wine popularity in the 1960s & 1970s, Picolit's extremely small yields have made it economically difficult to grow and has limited the number of plantings.
The Hungarian variety Kéknyelű is now assumed to be identical to Picolit.