The territory of Friuli Colli Orientali was defined in 1970 with the approval of the production regulations of the D.O.C. Colli Orientali del Friuli at that time. It includes the whole hill formation of the oriental part of the province of Udine that, starting from the north, comprehends the municipalities of Tarcento, Nimis, Povoletto, Attimis, Faedis, Torreano, the eastern part of Cividale, San Pietro al Natisone, Prepotto. South-westward it continues towards Premariacco, Buttrio, Manzano, S. Giovanni al Natisone and Corno di Rosazzo. These hills range nestles between an elevation of 100 to 350 meters. In ancient times (35-55 million years ago), the Friulian plain was submersed under the sea and the costs were situated just before the current Julian Pre-Alps. Deep under this archaic lagoon, during the millennia, there was a slow sedimentation process that originated majestic formations that, when the sea retreated, emerged from the water. Nowadays these deposits of Eocene origins consist of a distinctive alternation of marl (calcareous clay) and sandstone (calcified sands). Such soils are extraordinarily suitable for winemaking thanks to their composition and solar exposure. The visitor can look down these slopes and observe the terraces and the vineyards (whose profile has been modelled with the work of generations of winemakers), and at the same time he/she can observe the wide woodlands that reach the Friulian plain that is crowned, on the horizon, by the glittering sea. Moreover, such hills boast a fortunate position from the viticulture point of view. Indeed, the Carnic and the Julian Alps northward shelter the grapevine from the cold Siberian currents, while the Adriatic sea southward grants a constant afflux of mild breezes. Nevertheless, in the district an infinite number of microclimates coexists: cooler and dumper northward close to the mountains; milder and drier southward where, exactly as they did 20 centuries ago, olive trees and grapevine grow and bear fruit side by side, silent witnesses of ancient farmers’ traditions.