Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
old Lazio vineyards, differentiated by the size of
the bunch and the wings (medium-small with
two wings, medium with one or two wings, and
large with one large wing or two); some have
described even a fourth biotype. One of these
may yet be proven to be related to the
Greco
s, to
Roscetto, or to Rosseto.
Marco Carpineti, Cori's best wine producer,
who knows both Trebbiano Giallo and Greco
Giallo well (and owns vines of the latter), says
that Greco Giallo, with its superior disease
resistance, has taken Trebbiano Giallo's place in
the vineyards: “Trebbiano Giallo is too suscep-
tible to diseases, is small-bunched, and pro-
duces little; the wine is always of great quality
but ultimately the grape has virtually disap-
peared because of its limited productivity.” In
the absence of genetic testing, we do not know
if Greco Giallo and Trebbiano Giallo are truly
distinct, as Carpineti believes, though it seems
likely. Complicating matters is that Carpineti's
so-called Greco Giallo variety looks a lot more
like a
Trebbiano
to me than it does a
Greco:
Carpineti's Greco Giallo has a long, scrawny
bunch, small berries, and thin skin, all mor-
phologic features more typical of the
Trebbiano
s
than the
Greco
s
.
Last but not least, to the best of
my knowledge, nobody really knows the iden-
tity of the variety—or varieties—growing in
Lombardy and Veneto.
as intensely fl avored and glyceral, with aromas
and fl avors of fresh herbs and ripe peach.
Trebbiano Modenese
where it's found:
Emilia-Romagna.
national
registry code number:
241.
color:
white.
Also known as Trebianella, Trebbiano di
Modena, and Trebbiano Comune, this
Trebbi-
ano
variety really comes into its own not so
much for the wine that can be made from it
(though there are decent dry white and espe-
cially sparkling wines) but because it is the
main ingredient of the wonderful Aceto Bal-
samico Tradizionale di Modena (which is dif-
ferent from the much cheaper, industrially
made Aceto Balsamico
tout court
). It is charac-
terized by fairly large leaves, bunches that are
medium-large, pyramid-shaped, and fairly
compact with one or two wings, and medium-
sized, round berries covered with bloom. A
clone called CAB-1 became available in 2011; it
accumulates more sugar and is less productive
than the average grapevines of Trebbiano
Modenese. As far as
Trebbiano
s go, this variety
is a fairly early ripener, as it is usually picked
already by the end of September or in the early
part of October.
Which Wines to Choose and Why
Trebbiano Modenese grows in Emilia-
Romagna, mainly in the provinces of Modena
and Reggio Emilia, where many old vines still
exist. There is no DOC wine specifically
devoted to it, but it is used in IGT blends such
as Bianco di Castelfranco Emilia, Rubicone,
Forlì, and Ravenna. The wine made with Treb-
biano Modenese is usually light and fresh with
delicate herbal and lemony aromas and fl avors,
sometimes with a hint of honey on the fi nish.
Even though it's not the last word in complexity
or depth, it's pleasant enough and will match
well with light vegetable and fi sh dishes. How-
ever, Vittorio Graziano believes Trebbiano
Modenese can offer so much more than that.
Graziano, a recognized leading light in Italy's
Which Wines to Choose and Why
True Trebbiano Giallo only grows in the Lazio
area of the Castelli Romani and Cori. In my
opinion, it should not be confused with the
Rossetto variety typical of northeastern Lazio.
Therefore, there is no monovarietal wine made
with Trebbiano Giallo, and the few grapes still
grown around Rome are used in blends such as
Castelli Romani and other wines of the area.
Marco Carpineti told me he tasted some treb-
biano giallo wine made for home use when he
was much younger. Though the wines were
never truly monovarietal (locals tended to vine-
yards that were promiscuously planted with
many different varieties, as was commonly
done in those times), he remembers the wine
