Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
experts believe it arrived courtesy of emigrat-
ing Euboean Greeks as early as 770
B
.
C
.
E
.,
though there is no real documentation of this.
Likely enough perhaps, but the fi rst offi cial rec-
ognition of Biancolella dates back only to 1867,
when it is mentioned by D'Ascia in his topic on
Ischia,
Storia dell'isola d'Ischia.
According to
Bordignon, Biancolella is likely the variety that
always fl ourished on the island, though a usu-
ally trustworthy source such as Acerbi does not
mention it at all in his writings. Froio (1875)
also identifi ed the presence of Biancolella in the
area around Caserta, on the Campanian main-
land. Foëx (1909), who wrote the Biancolella
heading for Viala and Vermorel in their ampelo-
graphic opus, believed that Biancolella was the
variety called Petite Blanche in Corsica; how-
ever, his description differs considerably from
that of Salvatore d'Ambra, of the D'Ambra
estate, the most important winery on the island,
generally considered to have been the greatest
expert on Ischia grape varieties.
Biancolella is called San Nicola (or simply
Bianco) on Capri, and Teneddu on Procida; on
these nearby islands, it is likely that the same
genotype was named differently over the centu-
ries. Unfortunately, its island habitat has lim-
ited the data available relative to Biancolella:
other Campanian varieties have been the sub-
ject of much closer scientifi c scrutiny. Only
recently have researchers (Cipriani, Spadotto,
Jurman, Di Gaspero, Crespan, Meneghetti, et
al. 2010) shown that Biancolella is probably a
parent of Sanlunardo, while earlier studies
(Costantini, Monaco, Vouillamoz, Forlani, and
Grando 2005) had suggested it was closely
related to Falanghina Beneventana. Biancolella
has medium-sized, cylindrical bunches that
may look pyramidal because of the presence of
small wings; there are no offi cial clones availa-
ble, but there are two biotypes, Verace and Sel-
vatica
.
In the vineyard, Biancolella is character-
ized by ripening in late September, but also by
early budding and fl owering, which exposes it
to the risk of spring frosts and
coulure.
It's very
sensitive to peronospora, which has contributed
to limiting its distribution in Italy and abroad.
In Italy, Biancolella grows almost exclusively
in Campania, mainly on the islands off the
coast of Naples but it also grows along the
Amalfi and Sorrento coast and farther north
toward Caserta. Outside Italy, Biancolella has
been the subject of fi eld trials, such as those
conducted in the United States by the Depart-
ment of Viticulture and Enology at the Univer-
sity of California at Davis's Kearney Agricul-
tural Research and Extension Center in Fresno
County.
Which Wines to Choose and Why
The sight of Ischia's vineyards is a beautiful
one: due to the island's strong tourist industry
and resultant hotels and homes, the vines have
been pushed uphill, onto the rugged slopes of
Mount Epomeo, six hundred meters of green
rock jutting out into the Mediterranean that
essentially divides the island into two halves.
The slopes are green because of the unique
composition of this volcanic tufa, rich in sulfur,
manganese, and iron. The high mountain vine-
yards and the extremely rich mineral content of
the soils doubtless contribute to the considera-
ble potential for complexity of fl avor and per-
fume in Biancolella wines. These wines,
though not blessed with palate-burning levels
of acidity, can age remarkably well. I have tried
numerous bottles of biancolella from the 1960s
and 1970s over the last three decades that have
held up spectacularly, with wines from the
1970s presenting a petrol note not unlike that
of Riesling. Unfortunately, it used to be a lot
easier to fi nd these wines fi fteen or twenty
years ago, when estates still had many old bot-
tles available.
Wines that are 100 percent Biancolella are
DOC Ischia Biancolella, but Ischia Bianco
blends exist too (usually with Forastera, as well
as small percentages of other local natives such
as Coglionara and Sanlunardo). Biancolella
wines are always golden tinged, with strong
white fl ower and thyme aromas, fl avors of
fresh herbs, spearmint, grapefruit, oregano,
and a noticeable saline quality. In warmer
years, notes of pineapple and grilled plantain
