Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
never seems cloying as some brachettos and
moscatos can be. The fermentation process is at
times performed in autoclaves so as to preserve
the wine's natural carbon dioxide; this is why
some versions are lightly fi zzy. The wine is
much less aromatic than that made with Malva-
sia di Schierano and a great deal more struc-
tured, with a tannic mouthfeel loaded with
small blackberry and blackcurrant jam aromas
and fl avors (I fi nd strawberry notes to be more
typical of Malvasia di Schierano wines), at
times with a chocolaty nuance.
preferentially propagated in the 1950s and
1960s due to its greater productivity, earlier rip-
ening, and better resistance to diseases, relative
to the higher-quality but more diffi cult Malva-
sia di Schierano, which is sensitive to leaf hop-
pers and peronospora and though more vigor-
ous is a less generous and irregularly yielding
variety, being subject to
millerandage,
especially
when yields are allowed to creep up. In fact,
things got so out of hand that Chiara Martinotti
of Cascina Gilli has told me that “most people
aren't really sure of which variety, or how much
of each, they have in their vineyards.” The fact
that Malvasia di Schierano usually ripens late
(in the fi rst week of October, though with cli-
mate change this may not be true for much
longer) in its northern habitat didn't exactly
endear it to producers either. There are no offi -
cial clones available of the variety. According to
Lacombe, Boursiquot, Laoucou, Dechesne,
Varès, and This (2007), Malvasia di Schierano
has close genetic ties to Moscato d'Alessandria
and Malvasia del Lazio; this might explain why
I fi nd that its aromatic profi le is more complex
and interesting than that of the other two Pied-
montese red-berried
Malvasia
s, exuding some
aromas similar to those of many
Moscato
s (that
is, not just geraniol but also linalool deriva-
tions). For this reason, in the past, when SSR
profi ling had not yet become available and aro-
matic expression was still considered a defi ning
characteristic of
Malvasia
s, experts felt that
Malvasia di Schierano was best considered a
grape variety displaying characteristics in
between those of the
Moscato
s and the
Malva-
sia
s. Given its relationship to Moscato di Ales-
sandria, they weren't that far off the mark.
Gianni Vergnano, who produces the fi nest
results with this grape at Gilli, points out that
“the aromas are everything for this variety,
since they are so intense, refi ned, and unique.
And clay-calcareous soils are key to ensure
more penetrating aromatics. The goal with this
wine is to keep skin-to-must contact to a mini-
mum, roughly at 2°C for a few hours only: the
risk is tannin extraction that would make the
wine unbalanced relative to its sugar content.”
wines to try:
Accornero*** (Brigantino and
the Passito Pico Conte Giovanni Pastrone),
Bricco Mondalino*** (Molignano), Giorgio
Cantamessa** (La Spigliata), Biletta** (Malva-
rossa Moncucchetto), Fracchia** (Voulet/
Antichi Giochi Piemontesi), La Sera** (Malva-
sia). The last two, especially, are charming
examples of the lightly fizzy style. Mon-
temagno** (Nectar) makes a good sweet
version.
Malvasia di Schierano
where it's found:
Piedmont.
national reg-
istry code number:
137.
color:
red.
Malvasia di Schierano is another red-berried
Malvasia
that may have been fi rst documented
in Piedmont in the nineteenth century by
Leardi and De Maria. In fact,
Malvasia
grapes
(then called
Marvaxie
) were growing in Pied-
mont already in 1468: the statutes of the town
of Mondonio (known today as Castelnuovo Don
Bosco, the epicenter of Malvasia di Schierano
cultivation) stated that stiff penalties would be
imposed on all those caught stealing grapes of
“moscatelli, rinasii, vernace [. . .] et marvaxie.”
Malvasia di Schierano gives, in my view, the
best wines of the three red-berried
Malvasia
s
grown in the region. At times erroneously
called Malvasia Rosa (see above), it has always
been confused with Malvasia Nera Lunga (see
below), with which it was often interplanted in
vineyards
.
Malvasia Nera Lunga, which as the
name implies has a much longer bunch, was
