The Friuli Grave DOC appellation covers about 7,500 hectares on both sides of the Tagliamento River in the provinces of Pordenone and Udine in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region. The high Friuli plain, sheltered by the Alpine foothills, has a particularly original landscape marked with stony soils called Magredi (areas closer to the rivers with lots of alluvial deposits) or Grave. This large area was formed by alluvial matter that the Meduna, Cellina and Tagliamento rivers washed down from the Alps. Over thousands of years, these rivers deposited enormous quantities of calcareous-dolomitic material that had been gouged out of the mountains by violent waters and washed along the course of their riverbeds.

The entire plain is made of alluvial soils with large deposits in the northernmost segment of the DOC area becoming ever finer downriver. As well as being the source of the distinctive pebbly soil of the Grave area, the nearby mountains protect the valley from icy winds blowing from the north.
This aspect, along with the mitigating influence of the Adriatic Sea, has created a climate that is particularly suitable for viticulture.
However, there is another reason why the Grave area is able to produce wines of such high quality: the pebbles and stones that lie on the surface of the soils enhance the differences between night time and day time temperatures, reflecting light during the day and storing heat to release it at night. This enhances the ripening of the grapes and the development sugar and aromatic components. The results are intense and elegant wines.