Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
ducers are handcuffed by legal requirements.
Producers of Refosco Nostrano have had to
label their wine as a generic
Refosco
up until
now, but since Refosco Nostrano has fi nally
been inserted in the National Registry, they will
now be able to use the correct variety's name on
their wine labels. That the Italian legal system
and laws have allowed many such escape
hatches over the years is another (sad) matter
altogether, and gives a very clear-cut idea of just
how much (or little) attention politicians used
to pay to their local native grapes only a decade
ago.
offered lovely aromas and fl avors of citrus,
dried fruits, and aromatic herbs, with hints of
tropical fruit. Not a blockbuster wine, but
bright and lively, thanks to its harmonious,
fresh acidity.
Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso
where it's found:
FVG, Veneto.
national
registry code number:
205.
color:
red.
Probably Friuli Venezia Giulia's best-known
red grape variety, its name appears as such in
the literature only in 1877, when it was differen-
tiated from myriad
Refosco
s because it ripens
one to two weeks earlier and especially because
of its stalk, which reddens once the grapes are
fully ripe. Poggi (1939) stated that this
Refosco
was the only one worth concentrating efforts
on, because of the superior quality of its wine.
Refosco del Peduncolo Rosso has always
sparked controversy and the Refosco-Mondeuse
Noire fi asco of the last half of the twentieth cen-
tury shows why ampelogical identifi cation is
rife with traps. Simply put, a so-called
Refosco
accession sampled by the University of Califor-
nia Berkeley, from Jackson Vineyard in Amador
County, was later identifi ed via genetic testing
as Mondeuse Noire. Fortunately, no
Refosco
variety growing in Italy matched the American
“Refosco-Mondeuse Noire” in DNA profi le, and
so it was clear to all that the original U.S. grape-
vine sample had been misidentifi ed ampelo-
graphically from the beginning, sparing wine
lovers and producers alike any further worry
that Refosco del Peduncolo Rosso and Mon-
deuse Noire were one and the same.
Fortunately, recent research has shed con-
siderable light on the Refosco del Peduncolo
Rosso family tree, revealing that Teroldego, a
Trentino native grape, spontaneously crossed at
least twice with the same unknown variety to
give birth to Lagrein in Trentino and Alto Adige
and to Marzemino in Trentino and Lombardy
(Grando, Stefanini, Zambanini, and Vouil-
lamoz 2006). The latter and an unknown other
parent then gave birth to Refosco dal Pedun-
culo Rosso, most likely in Friuli. Therefore,
Refosco Bianco
where it's found:
FVG.
national registry
code number:
not registered.
color:
white.
Identifi ed ampelographically and geneti-
cally only in 2004, in an old vineyard at Coia di
Tarcento in the Colli Orientali DOC zone of
Friuli Venezia Giulia, Refosco Bianco was fi rst
mentioned in the nineteenth century by Di
Maniago. The leaf is medium-sized, triangular,
with fi ve lobes; the bunch is cylindrical, loosely
packed, and has one or two wings; the berries
are round, yellow-green, and spotted. Late rip-
ening and highly productive, this variety has
been shown to have good aromatic potential, as
Refosco Bianco grapes contain high concentra-
tions of benzenoids (45 percent) and terpenes
(32 percent), with interesting levels of both
linalool and geraniol.
Despite its name, Refosco Bianco is com-
pletely unrelated to any of the other
Refosco
s,
but Petrussi feels it is appropriate to continue
calling it so since locals have historically
referred to this variety as a
Refosco
grape. There
are a very few, sporadic old vines left of Refosco
Bianco, but ERSA and local growers are trying
to bring Refosco Bianco back from the brink of
oblivion.
Which Wines to Choose and Why
Clearly, given the extremely limited plantings
of Refosco Bianco, there are no monovarietal
wines made with it. Microvinifi cations have
