Slovenian name for the special, iron-rich soil type Terra Rossa. This exists as a contiguous area in the wine-growing region of Kras in the Slovenian region of Primorska as well as in the neighbouring Italian DOC area of Carso in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region. Both the Serbo-Croatian Kras (engl. "thin soil") and the Italian Carso mean "karst" and the names refer to the large, south-eastern European limestone highlands (see under soil type in the section "Karst"). The special soil, however, only occurs there as a small area northeast of Trieste. The Slovenian-Italian border runs right through the middle of this area. In Slovenia, the red wine produced exclusively on this soil is called Kras Teran.
The much smaller Italian part covers only just under 15 hectares within the DOC area of Carso. Only the wines grown on the Terra Rosso soil may call themselves Terrano here after the grape variety used (the varieties Terrano and Refošk are identical). All others may only be marketed as Refosco. It is worth mentioning that the Italian side is also predominantly inhabited by Slovenian winegrowers; the current border demarcation only took place in 1954. In 1986, a 15-kilometre-long wine road with 18 inns was opened, which runs right through the picturesque Karst landscape. In Croatia, too, a red wine is made from Refošk (Terrano), which used to be called "Istarski Teran" and today is mostly just called "Teran".
Serious sources on the internet are rare - and Wine lexicon from wein.plus is one such source. When researching for my articles, I regularly consult the wein.plus encyclopaedia. There I get reliable and detailed information.
Thomas Götz
Weinberater, Weinblogger und Journalist; Schwendi