Grape Groups and Families - Native Wine Grapes of Italy - page 139

Vernaccina variety as well, also apparently com-
pletely unrelated to all the others.
It only gets better when you consider that
there are many wines named Vernaccia-of-
Somewhere that are not made with any known
Vernaccia grape: a very good one is Umbria's
Vernaccia di Cannara, which is made with the
Cornetta grape, also referred to as Vernaccia
Nera, but apparently distinct from the two
other, better-known Vernaccia Neras. Luigi
Veronelli used to talk to me about many other
once-famous Vernaccia wines such as Vernac-
cia delle Cinque Terre, Vernaccia di Quiliano,
Vernaccia di Serra Meccaglie, and Vernaccia di
Villasor, all made with unspecifi ed Vernaccia
grapes, or with altogether differently named
grapes. All are nearly forgotten today, save for
Vernaccia di Quiliano.
Most likely, the reason Vernaccia was such a
common name for grape varieties is that it is a
linguistic corruption of the late-Latin term ver-
naculum, which means local. Hence the name
has always been attributed by farmers to locally
grown varieties in just about every corner of the
country, which explains the proliferation of a
rainbow's worth, and more, of so-called Vernac-
cia grapes. Other experts believe that the word
derives from Helvenacia or Helvenaca, a variety
that Pliny considered foreign, so in this case the
name would indicate varieties that were not
local at all. Still other experts mention a place-
related origin of the Vernaccia name, for exam-
ple Vernazza, a charming Ligurian town in the
Cinque Terre, famous for its white wine; Galle-
sio was the fi rst to promote this idea, in the
nineteenth century, but it is a minority view
today. Fewer still believe that the name might
stem from verrus (“a grape liked by wild boars”),
ibernum (“winter,” or dried grapes consumed
during that season), vernum ( “springtime”), or
vernaceus (“wine made from grapes destined
for slaves”, a derivation from vernus, or “a slave
born in that house”). Interestingly, Vernatsch,
the German name for Schiava Grossa, also
derives from Vernaccia, as does Grenache.
I don't know about you, but I like the “local”
theory. In fact, one might think that the word

vernaccia was once used, when speaking of
grapes, as frequently as the words indigenous
and native are today. So maybe I could have
called this topic Vernacular Wine Grapes of Italy
. . . or then again, maybe not.

Vernaccia di Oristano

where it's found: Sardinia. national regis-
try code number: 260. color: white.
Vernaccia di Oristano is the name of the
grape variety, but the wine is also called Ver-
naccia di Oristano. Also known locally as Gar-
naccia, Moranina, or simply Vernaccia, Vernac-
cia di Oristano goes a long way back in Sardinia.
It is fi rst mentioned in a law passed on June 8,
1327 (and cited in the topic Breve di Villa di
Chiesa ) by Philip IV the Conqueror, who for-
bade tavern keepers from placing water on
tables and obligated them to display signs list-
ing the various wines served (including vernac-
cia). Manca dell'Arca mentions a “Garnaccia”
or “Granazza” with large, long berries; Gallesio
(1839) wrote that it was one of Sardinia's best
wines, as did Molon (1906). In 1966, Bruni,
Breviglieri, and Casini showed that Vernaccia
and Vernaccina were not identical—though
they also stated, erroneously, that the latter was
Vernaccia di San Gimignano. Recent ampelo-
graphic and molecular characterization has
shown Vernaccia di Oristano to be distinct
from Vernaccia di San Gimignano (Nieddu,
Nieddu, Cocco, Erre, and Chessa 2007); other
study results have proved it distinct from
Spain's Garnacha (De Mattia, Imazio, Grassi,
Lovicu, Tardaguila, Failla, et al. 2007; Zecca,
De Mattia, Lovicu, Labra, Sala, and Grassi
2010). Further, and very interestingly, Nieddu
(2011) reports that the Vernaccia variety grown
in the Ogliastra zone of Sardinia is different
from the majority of the Vernaccia di Oristano
grown on the island. De Mattia's group found
that while some Sardinian varieties with
local Vernaccia -like names (such as Vernaccia
Santa Rosalia, Vernaccia, and Granaccia) are
identical and are in fact all Vernaccia di
Oristano, others, such as the Vernaccia s grown