Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Strozzi/Fattoria di Cusona*** (1933), Giovanni
Panizzi***, La Lastra*** (the entry-level ver-
naccia), Sono Montenidoli*** (Fiore and the
entry-level wine; the Carato is a little too oaky
for me), Casa alle Vacche**, Casale-Falchini**,
Pietrafi tta**, Rampa di Fugnano**, Signano**,
and Simone Santini**. I recommend the entry-
level, non-Riserva wines from all these produc-
ers. The wines of Sono Montenidoli harken
back to the traditional wine made in the area
decades ago, rich, nutty, almost oxidized and
very satisfying, by all accounts the best of the
whole
denominazione.
Mattia Barzaghi, who in
my view shares with Sono Montenidoli's owner
Elisabetta Fagiuoli the honors as most talented
winemakers in all of San Gimignano, has run
into some fi nancial diffi culties that will hope-
fully be resolved soon so that he can get back to
making his wines out of his own estate; in the
meantime, he is making them while working at
Mormoraia.
were less than fi fty hectares planted to it. Fortu-
nately, things have improved somewhat, and
the latest estimates are that there are about
ninety hectares under vine in Italy to date. Gen-
erally, it likes marly-sandy soils, and is usually
vigorous and capable of hefty but high-quality
yields. It both fl owers and ripens late in the sea-
son. Morphologically, Vernaccia Nera is charac-
terized by medium-large leaves that are almost
circular, but usually have five lobes; the
bunches are medium-sized, cylindrical-conical,
compact, and often winged, with dark round
berries. There is only one offi cial clone avail-
able (1-ISV CSV).
Which Wines to Choose and Why
Throughout the centuries the very aromatic
Vernaccia Nera wines have been considered of
exceptional quality, but were always scarce.
Even today, production is limited to small pock-
ets of the Marche, and even smaller ones in
Umbria. Historically very good vernaccia di
Serrapetrona was made by Franci (the wines of
this producer were famous already in the
1920s), followed later by the also very good
wines made by Umberto Francioni and Quac-
quarini. However, there is more than one wine
that can be made with the Vernaccia Nera
grape. Clearly, the best wine is the DOCG
vernaccia di Serrapetrona (by law, made with a
minimum 85 percent of Vernaccia Nera grapes,
40 percent of which have to be air-dried), a deli-
cious sparkling wine made by secondary fer-
mentation in the bottle that is not unlike a
much richer, fuller-bodied lambrusco. I guar-
antee you'll fi nd this wine's intense red rose,
violet, black cherry, and inky aromas and fl a-
vors absolutely thrilling. It can be made in a
sweet
(passito)
style, as this grape takes to air-
drying very well. For those who prefer nonspar-
kling red wines, the DOC Serrapetrona wines
are full-bodied and rich still wines made with
at least 85 percent Vernaccia Nera grapes. To
my taste, these wines can at times be a little too
tannic and oaky, but the better examples are
certainly very impressive, structured wines of
real breeding and depth. All told, Vernaccia
Vernaccia Nera
where it's found:
Marche, Umbria.
national
registry code number:
262.
color:
red.
Completely unrelated to the previous two,
this
Vernaccia
was just as famous in centuries
past as it is today: already in the 1800s it was
believed to give one of the best wines of the
Ancona area in the Marche. There is also a Ver-
naccia Nera grown in the province of Arezzo,
but the plants I have seen bear no resemblance
whatsoever to the Vernaccia Nera of the Marche,
so my guess is (at least until genetic tests tell us
otherwise) that the Arezzo variety, whatever it
maybe, was so named with the aim of cashing
in on
Vernaccia'
s popularity. Other synonyms
for Vernaccia Nera are Vernaccia di Teramo and
Vernaccia Selvatica; we know today that Vernac-
cia Nera is not the same grape as Vernaccia
Nera Grossa Cerretana. Clearly, as the latter
two are different from one another, they both
can't be Grenache (or Garnacha) either, as
some have suggested. By 1893 the grape was
believed by authorities to be practically extinct,
and by the end of the twentieth century there
