Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
berried Albana. I hope Paolo decides to have
genetic testing performed on his vines soon,
and then we'll know exactly what he owns.
In any case, research conducted in 2004 in
Tebano proved that Albana Nera is distinct from
all other grapes currently listed in the National
Registry, though the differentiation between it
and Abrusco (though the two don't look even
remotely alike to me) was arrived at in 2005
only via ampelographic measures (Fontana and
Filippetti 2006). Molecular genetic testing by
the same research group confi rmed a relation-
ship between Albana Nera and Marzemino:
these two varieties apparently share one allele
in each of the ten loci examined. Originally, it
was believed there were two different Albana
Nera biotypes: Albana Nera Balducci (growing
in the area around Forlì) and Albana Nera
Vignoli (found in the countryside around
Ravenna). However, results from this study
showed that the Vignoli biotype is identical to
Ciliegiolo, so it's not an Albana Nera at all.
Another fi ne bureaucratic mess. Albanella
was long considered a synonym of the much
less valid Trebbiano Toscano, and the lawmak-
ers who crafted the DOC regulations for the
Colline Pesaresi in Marche outlawed the use of
the name Albanella until 2000. In their mis-
guided belief that Trebbiano Toscano was
locally called Albanella, they effectively wiped
the true Albanella off the map. If it hadn't been
for the Mancini family of Pesaro, we might not
be speaking of Albanella today; but Ettore and
Luigi knew that their Albanella grapes looked
and behaved nothing like the lowly Tuscan
Trebbiano.
Better still, the wine made with
Albanella was more interesting. Consequently,
they have been bottling it since 1992.
Thanks to the Mancinis getting Attilio Sci-
enza of the University of Milan involved, we
know that Albanella is related to Elbling and
Albariño, and unrelated to Trebbiano Toscano,
though, to the best of my knowledge, these
research results have yet to be published in a
peer-reviewed academic journal. Apparently,
Albanella also bears a morphologic resem-
blance to the rare Sardinian variety Albaran-
zeuli Bianco. There appear to be three biotypes:
large, intermediate, and small bunches and
berries; the intermediate biotype also has a
downy underside to its leaves, while in the other
two this is smooth. Precious little historical
information is available on it: the fi rst mention
is in a nineteenth-century document kept in
the Biblioteca Oliveriana in Pesaro. It should
not be confused with Albanello, which is a
Sicilian grape.
Which Wines to Choose and Why
Albana Nera grows only around Faenza,
Brisighella, and the hills of Imola, especially in
Santagata sul Santerno in Emilia-Romagna.
There are no DOC wines, and I only know of the
IGT wine made by Babini. It's not an easy grape
to make wine from: like Dolcetto, it produces a
lot of solids and therefore needs pumping or
racking in order to ward off the development of
unpleasant odors. When well made, these wines
have deep purple-ruby hues, grapey aromas, and
fl avors of dark berries and herbs, and is very
bright and fresh with sneaky concentration.
Which Wines to Choose and Why
Reduced to only a few rows of vines here and
there, Albanella is a variety on the rebound,
and an increasing number of local producers
are setting down rows of it. It is grown almost
exclusively near Pesaro, in subzones such as
Roncaglia and Montebacchino. The DOC wines
are Colline Pesaresi, but they have to include
25 percent Pinot Nero (removed immediately
off the skins, as for a white wine), so monovari-
etal versions are available only as IGT. The pres-
wines to try:
Babini's Fondo San Giuseppe**
(Collanima, it also contains 10 percent Cente-
simino, planted haphazardly among the Albana
Nera vines).
Albanella
where it's found:
Marche.
national regis-
try code number:
not registered.
color:
white.
