Major Native and Traditional Grape Varieties - Native Wine Grapes of Italy - page 147

are not identical; and if the varieties aren't iden-
tical, then their wines won't be either. I posed
the same question to three of Italy's best-known
winemakers: two answered that the grapes
were identical, and one that they were very dif-
ferent. To make matters worse, Abrostine has
always been confused with the members of the
Colorino group, from which it is distinct. So it
goes for Italy's natives.
The scientists aren't in agreement either:
Mancuso (2001) wrote that Abrostine is a syno-
nym of Abrusco, a fi nding apparently recently
confi rmed in a private communication by Rita
Vignani (Robinson, Harding, and Vouillamoz
2012), though this would contradict her own
previously published data (Vignani, Scali, Masi,
Milanelli, Scalabrelli, Wang, et al. 2008). How-
ever, until scientifi c data is published in peer-
reviewed academic journals of note (and prefer-
ably, confi rmed by other research groups) it is
of doubtful use and cannot be taken at face
value. As things stand now, this is exactly
where we are with the question of the relation-
ship between Abrusco and Abrostine.
Abrostine is most likely a direct descendant
of an ancient Tuscan native wild grapevine, or
the result of a crossing between a wild and a
cultivated species. Abrostine's wild, rustic
appearance and wine once led some experts to
consider it a member of the Lambrusco family,
which we know today not to be the case. A look
at an Italian dictionary under the word abrostine
will reveal “an American vine species ( Vitis
labrusca )” or “grapes produced from an Ameri-
can grapevine,” both of which are incorrect.
According to a report by Di Vecchi Staraz,
Lacombe, Laucou, This, and Boselli (2009),
Abrostine shares alleles with local Tuscan wild
grapevine species, as do six other native Tuscan
grapevines, including Sangiovese. As we have
seen, Abrostine has always been thought to be
related to wild grapevines, so this fi nding is not
surprising.
Abrostine belongs to the class of grape vari-
eties known as teinturiers ( tintori, in Italian):
examples include France's Petit Verdot and Ita-
ly's Giacchè, Grand Noir, and the various Color-

ino s (for the last of these, see chapter 3). In the
vast majority of cases, wines made from the
teinturier grapes are not interesting or complex
enough to stand alone, though of course that
hasn't stopped producers everywhere in the
world, Italy included, from trying. But very
rarely, teinturiers can do more than contribute
color and size to a wine: they can pleasantly
surprise on their own. Abrostine, together with
a few Colorino varieties and even Abrusco, is
among these rare teinturiers. It is noteworthy
that the best teinturier wine grapes are charac-
terized by colorless pulps, a trait shared by all of
the world's great wine grapes, from Pinot Nero
to Nebbiolo to Chardonnay; tellingly, Abros-
tine's pulp is as colorless as they come.
Abrostine performs best on clay-calcareous
soils, though little is known about its potential
on other soil types. It has a medium-sized,
pyramidal, loosely packed bunch (always big-
ger than that of Abrusco), with one or two
wings, and very small, thick-skinned, blue-
black berries; the leaf stalk is red tinged. This
variety ripens late, usually at October's end.
Unfortunately, with no proper studies of it
under way, this variety remains cloaked in
darkness.

Which Wines to Choose and Why
Given the paucity of trustworthy information
available on Abrostine, I am indebted to Fede-
rico Staderini, a consultant winemaker respon-
sible for some of Italy's greatest wines (the
Brunello di Montalcino Poggio di Sotto springs
to mind), who has been a gold mine of knowl-
edge over the years. Staderini developed an
interest in Abrostine thanks to his association
with Roberto Bandinelli of the University of
Florence, Italy's greatest expert in Tuscan
native grape varieties, and currently Italy's
greatest ampelographer. Over at the San Felice
estate, where the beautiful experimental vine-
yard Vitarium has been developed, Bandinelli
has gone as far as cross-pollinating Abrostine
with Sangiovese to create a new variety (that he
did so with Abrusco as well clearly tells you that
he believes the two varieties to be distinct).