Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Wines made with the better biotypes have the
acidity, the fl esh, and the ability to age and
improve. I caution readers that just because a
label reads “Trebbiano di Romagna,” that does
not necessarily mean it is a wine made wholly
with Trebbiano Romagnolo, as the DOC guide-
lines only require that a minimum 85 percent
Trebbiano Romagnolo be used.
grape, especially among the older vines. I have
tasted some grapes (and wines) that are down-
right aromatic, almost Gewürztraminer-like,
while most others are neutral, so my feeling is
that a lot of homework still needs to be done on
the subject.
The description of Trebbiano Spoletino in
the National Registry is of a grapevine with
medium-large leaves that have a downy under-
surface, cylindrical or cylindrical-conical,
medium-sized, very compact bunches, and
medium-sized, round berries. It behaves like
all other
Trebbiano
s, in that it is a late ripener
and is resistant to peronospora and botrytis, but
slightly less to oidium. There is one offi cial
clone of Trebbiano Spoletino, named 1 ISV-ICA
PG. According to Borgo, Cartechini, Lovat, and
Moretti (2004), this clone is more resistant to
oidium and botrytis than the standard popula-
tions and also has more total acidity at similar
levels of ripeness.
wines to try:
Leone Conti**, Fattoria
Zerbina**, Tre Monti** (Vigna Rio), Battis-
tini*, La Berta* (they simply write the wine is
made with 100 percent “Trebbiano,” which is
incorrect), and Celli*.
Trebbiano Spoletino
where it's found:
Umbria.
national regis-
try code number:
243.
color:
white.
Though Trebbiano Spoletino was known
already in the nineteenth century, it is not clear
if this variety is native to the countryside of
Perugia, where it grows today, or if it was
brought to Umbria from elsewhere. This vari-
ety has met with huge popularity in Umbria in
the last ten years, and as is all too often the
case, suddenly many estates started churning
out their own version of Trebbiano Spoletino
wine, or drastically increased their existing pro-
duction to large numbers of bottles. Though
farmers in Umbria have always owned a row or
two of Trebbiano Spoletino in their vineyards,
nobody made a monovarietal wine with it; only
when Cantina Novelli, at the beginning of the
twenty-fi rst century, began paying attention to
the variety and started making crisp, citrusy
wines very reminiscent of those made with
Sauvignon Blanc, did Trebbiano Spoletino's
popularity take off. However, many trebbiano
spoletino wines don't taste anything alike,
something that may have to do with the grape-
vine that's actually growing in people's vine-
yards. Having walked the Umbrian vineyards
over the years, I can safely say that no two Treb-
biano Spoletino producers have grapes that
look alike—or to be kind, there seems to be a
very large intravarietal variability with this
Which Wines to Choose and Why
Trebbiano Spoletino is found only in Umbria,
especially in the townships of Spoleto, Monte-
falco, and the many small towns in the area.
For all the phenotypic differences presented by
the grape, the wines are uniformly quite good,
thereby explaining why so many estates in the
area want to try their hand at producing this
wine. So far, wines have ranged from fresh and
lemony, with sauvignonesque characters, to
unctuous and alcoholic, with a few even sport-
ing aromatic notes, much like a moscato bianco.
In my view, these aromatic wines are most
likely not made with Trebbiano Spoletino, but
rather with a local aromatic variety; of course,
there may well be a “Trebbiano Spoletino Aro-
matico,” as with Malvasia Bianca di Candia and
Malvasia di Candia Aromatica, but in my view
Trebbiano Spoletino is not an aromatic variety.
Those wines that are intensely lemony, fi ggy,
and herbal are most likely the product of hyper-
reductive winemaking techniques, but in this
manner they become less interesting, losing in
personality, since they smell and taste like a
Sauvignon Blanc.
