If you want to know about honey production along Italy's border with Slovenia, then look no further than the Cosorzio Obbligatorio fra gli Apicoltori della Provincia di Gorizia.

Delicious Italy ® was invited to find out more and we spent a morning at the Enoteca La Serenissima, Gradisca d'Isonzo in March 2004. This is what we found out.

The best way to judge the quailty of the honey you are about to try is by placing it in a classic balloon shaped wine glass.

Warm the honey by cupping your hand around the glass and the light heat will release the natural scent and make the honey slightly more liquid.

First check for impurities by holding it to the light, then by taking a spoon and allowing the honey to fall back into the glass.

Our taste buds recognise sweet, salt, acidic and bitter properties. The tip of the tongue is where the sweetness of the honey will hit first.

A strong flavoured honey will also have a so called 'retro-nasale' which will appear at the back of the nose.

The more soluble honeys contain more fructose, the less soluble more glucose.

These are the three honeys we tasted in Gradisca Isonzo.

1. A good 'acacia' honey (chestnut honeydew) is fluid, light yellow with a delicate aroma. It is ideal for calming the nerves and stomach and for sweetening drinks.

2. The 'Marasca' honey (wild cherry from the Carso Hiughplain bordering Slovenia) reminds the taster of the green parts of the plant with an intense perfume and slight 'amaragnolo' or acidic taste. This honey is not produced every year due to its rarity.

3. The ' Castagno' (honeydew) honey is harvested in July and has a deep brown colour due to the presence of 'melata' or non nectar elements. It tastes of malt, curdled milk and toffee or even tomato jam. It is ideal for blood circulation problems and the liver. '