Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
chella*. For Puglia, try: Lomazzi & Sarli**
(Dimastrodonato, intensely air-dried Aleatico,
very thick and sweet) and Francesco Candido*
(Aleatico di Puglia). For Lazio, try: La Car-
caia**, Occhipinti** (Montemaggiore Rosso,
Alea Viva, Alter Ego), Tre Botti** (Bludom Pas-
sito). For Marche (Vernaccia di Pergola), try:
Fat tor ia Villa Ligi*, Ter racr uda*, and Michele
Massaioli*.
ries. It's sensitive to spring frosts and to oid-
ium, but has good resistance to wind and
drought. It likes clay-rich soils of alluvial ori-
gin, and is characterized by medium-high
vigor, and large, regular production; it fl owers
relatively early and ripens in very late Septem-
ber or early October. Ancellotta was apparently
used to breed Galotta, a laboratory Ancellotta ×
Gamay Noir crossing grown in Switzerland's
Canton Ticino but not found under any guise in
Italy (not even as a table grape or grape “for spe-
cial purposes”).
Ancellotta
Which Wines to Choose and Why
Traditionally, little bottled wine is made with
this variety, its production being directed
toward concentrated musts or bulk wines used
to increase the color of anemic red wines made
all over Italy. That Ancellotta is viewed as a very
important and useful variety is well illustrated
by the fact it is included in two DOC blends
(Colli di Faenza and Reggiano) and an almost
ridiculous forty-two IGT blends (one of the
largest numbers of any Italian grape variety),
including well-known ones such as Tuscany's
Costa Toscana and Sardinia's Isola dei Nuraghi.
The name of Ancellotta's main by-product, Ros-
sissimo (“extremely red”), illustrates Ancellot-
ta's main appeal. However, the intensity of
Ancellotta's red coloration and its wealth of
polyphenols have also found uses in the phar-
maceutical, food, and cosmetic industries. An
important natural coloring agent called enocy-
anin is obtained from its skins, and is used to
color fruit juice and sauces. Villiam Friggeri,
talented winemaker and director of the Cantina
di Santa Croce in Carpi, makes a Lancellotta
dell'Emilia Filtrato Dolce that is 100 percent
Ancellotta, a lightly alcoholic, sparkling, fer-
mented grape juice best paired with sweet fruit
pies and cookies, as well as a Mosto di Uva
Ancellotta, used to fl avor sauces. Ancellotta is
also used in blends of DOC Lambrusco Reg-
giano and Lambrusco Salamino di Santa Croce.
A good ancellotta is not just about almost
impenetrably deep ruby-purple looks; it exudes
plenty of fruity charm, with almost sweet, low
where it's found:
Emilia-Romagna.
national
registry code number:
12.
color:
red.
One of the rare Italian grapes for which
there is scanty historical documentation, Ancel-
lotta may take its name from the Lancellotti (or
Lancellotto) family: there is documentation
that a Tommassino Lancellotti, who worked in
the wine business, propagated Ancellotta in the
fourteenth and fi fteenth centuries. Alterna-
tively, its name may derive from the lanceolated
(spear-like) middle lobe of its leaf, though of
course many other varieties have spear-like
leaves, including Fogarina, long cultivated in
the same areas of Emilia-Romagna as Ancel-
lotta, and the much rarer Lanzesa. One of its
synonyms is Ancellotta di Massenzatico,
named after a small town that is a hotbed of
Ancellotta cultivation.
Ancellotta is grown mainly in fl atland vine-
yards of Emilia-Romagna, especially around
Reggio Emilia (where it represents half of the
provincial grape production) and to a lesser
degree, Modena. Apparently, there exists a
Trentino subvariety I have yet to see, with
smaller bunches and berries, that tends to give
higher alcohol wines. It also grows in Brazil
(where they use it to make monovarietal wines)
and in Switzerland's Valais region, where it
adds color to anemic reds, which is exactly the
role it has always been famous for in Italy as
well. There are four clones available: Fedit 18
C.S.G., R 2, VCR 540, and CAB 1. In general,
Ancellotta has a medium-sized, pyramidal
bunch with dark, thick-skinned, spherical ber-
