Grape Groups and Families - Native Wine Grapes of Italy - page 127

nini (2000), Schiava Grigia is identical to the
rare Cenerina variety of Trentino (“cenerina”
stems from cenere, or ash, underlining the grey
[ grigio ] look of the berries). It was once felt by
many to be the best of all the Schiava s, produc-
ing the most interesting wines. Currently,
views seem to differ. In my opinion, the qual-
ity of Schiava wines has more to do with vine
age, since the best Schiava wines regardless of
subvariety are made from very old vines. It dif-
fers from Schiava Gentile due to its larger, pen-
tagonal leaf, higher vigor, and a less compact,
pyramid-shaped bunch that is much longer
(over twenty centimeters on average). Like
Schiava Gentile, it is subject to dissection of
the spine and presents millerandage in cold
rainy springs. Of all the Schiava s, Schiava
Grigia is the most sensitive to oidium. It is as
late ripening and as vigorous as Schiava Gen-
tile and Schiava Grossa (the latter usually rip-
ens a little earlier). There are no offi cial certi-
fi ed clones available.

related, high-quality wine grape, Tschaggele, is
a biotype of this Schiava. As the name implies,
it has a big bunch and big berries, though wine-
makers like Harald Schraffl of Nalles-Magré
maintain that modern clones actually have
smaller berries than most fi eld samples. Schi-
ava Grossa is also the highest-yielding Schiava.
Compared to wines made with Schiava Gentile,
wines made with Schiava Grossa are character-
ized by more delicate aromas and fl avors and,
usually, by higher acidity. According to Crespan
(2003), the white Malvasia del Lazio and the
black table grape Moscato d'Amburgo are both
progenies of Schiava Grossa × Moscato
d'Alessandria, so this is another Schiava variety
that has family ties to the Moscato s. According
to Vouillamoz and Arnold (2010), Schiava
Grossa is one of the parents of Madeleine
Royale (no longer cultivated), and so is a grand-
parent of Müller-Thurgau, one of the world's
best-known deliberate laboratory grape cross-
ings. Others have also suggested that it is a par-
ent of Uva Tosca, and possibly Lagrein, but this
is more controversial (Cipriani, Spadotto, Jur-
man, Di Gaspero, Crespan, Meneghetti, et al.
2010). It is the parent of at least one extremely
important crossing, Kerner (which is the result
of Schiava Grossa × Riesling); Rotberger,
another Schiava Grossa × Riesling crossing that
is not grown in Italy, has proven decidedly less
successful and interesting. The also forgettable
Bukettraube, a Sylvaner × Schiava Grossa cross-
ing, is not grown in Italy either.
Schiava Grossa grows mainly in Trentino
and Alto Adige, but can also be found in Lom-
bardy (around Brescia, Bergamo, and Pavia)
and Veneto (around Verona). It is characterized
by larger but otherwise similar leaves to those
of Schiava Gentile, while the also larger grape
bunch is a truncated cone in shape and more
compact. The berries are irregular in shape and
size, but are usually round and larger than
those of any other Schiava. Unlike the other
Schiava s, Schiava Grossa has been the subject
of much clonal selection research, and there
are a rather amazing nineteen offi cially certi-
fi ed clones available for planting. Though the

Which Wines to Choose and Why
Monovarietal Schiava Grigia wines can be
found in Alto Adige. The wine is always a bright
pink and exudes aromas of violet, red cur-
rant, pomegranate, and marzipan, delivering a
slightly salty-sour tang on the usually bright
fi nish. I fi nd its wines to be the most refi ned of
all those made with the various Schiava s.

wines to try: San Michele Appiano** (Schiava
Grigia or Grauvernatsch), Terlan** (Grauver-
natsch), and Cantina Bolzano** (Grauver-
natsch).

Schiava Grossa
where it's found: Trentino, Alto Adige, Lom-
bardy. national registry code number: 289.
color: red.
Schiava Grossa is also called Edel-Ver-
natsch, Gross Vernatsch, and Trollinger in Alto
Adige, Austria, and Germany; Black Hamburg
or Black Tripoli in the United Kingdom; and
Bressana around the city of Brescia. The