Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
soften their edge somewhat. Though most of
these wines are simple, they make refreshing,
uncomplicated aperitifs and some have consid-
erable potential to be a whole lot more. How-
ever, Puglia remains the place for high-quality
Bombino Bianco wines, though for the longest
time, Puglian versions were nothing to write
home about either. This is because Puglia was
long a backwater of enological knowledge, with
people limiting themselves to churning out
bulk wine, the majority of which was at best
neutral and uninspired. Even today, most of
Puglia's Bombino Bianco grows in old canopied
vineyards where the variety can never ripen
fully, giving thin, extremely tart, tasteless
wines. At the beginning of the new century,
Nicholas Belfrage, in his
Brunello to Zibibbo
topic, wrote that “Bombino Bianco can make as
dull and tasteless a wine as you could hope to
fi nd.” You can't blame him: most likely he had
tasted either the product of those canopied
vineyards yielding copious quantities of unripe
berries or perhaps wines that weren't really
made with true Bombino Bianco.
At the time Belfrage's topic came out, most
wines made with Bombino Bianco probably
were just as bad as he described, but happily
this is no longer case. De Corato believes that
Bombino Bianco wines are “fresh and complex,
much like good Chardonnay wines and we have
very high hopes for it,” but adds that “the prob-
lem is its naturally high acidity: if picked
unripe, the wine is undrinkable. That's why
traditionally it was blended with the lower-acid
Pampanuto, which softened it.” D'Alfonso del
Sordo's Catapanus wine has become a resound-
ing success. “It was my father who, in the mid-
1980s, decided to give Bombino Bianco a seri-
ous try,” recalls Gianfelice d'Alfonso del Sordo
di San Severo. “Selecting plant material from
old forgotten local vineyards, in 1999 he laid
down our fi rst three hectares, and we've never
looked back.” Spagnoletti Zeuli, another
Puglian producer thinks that Bombino Bianco
is “a pretty variety with big berries and we're
making increasingly promising wines.” In fact,
Bombino Bianco's naturally high acidity has
been turned to advantage by at least one estate:
the D'Arapri estate in Puglia makes truly excel-
lent sparkling wines from the variety. It was the
fi rst to think of this possibility, and produced a
trial of sixty bottles in 1979 by using empty
Champagne bottles obtained from friends at
local restaurants. The success of the wines has
been nothing short of phenomenal, and the
rest, as they say, is history.
wines to try:
For Puglia, try: D'Alfonso del
Sordo*** (Catapanus), D'Arapri*** (Brut, Brut
Nobile Riserva), Rivera*** (Marese), Cantina
Ariano* (Sogno di Volpe), and Cantina Para-
diso* (Bombino). The sparklers by D'Arapri,
mostly made in the manner of Champagne
with refermentation in the bottle, are excellent,
but make sure you try the monovarietal
Bombino Bianco wine, without Pinot Nero
additions. For Lazio, try: Rosalba Vendrame**
(Ottonese Gocce Preziose) and Donnardea*
(Bombino). The very good Cibele by Compa-
gnia di Ermes, which used to be a pure Otton-
ese, is unfortunately no longer (now half Otton-
ese and half Bellone).
Bombino Nero
where it's found:
Puglia.
national registry
code number:
33.
color:
red.
Unlike Bombino Bianco, which is grown in
many different regions, Bombino Nero is essen-
tially limited to Puglia. Like its white counter-
part, its name is also believed to result from the
particular shape of the cluster, which resembles
a cuddling infant, but the two varieties are
unrelated. To the best of my knowledge, it has
nothing to do with a small bomb, as you'll fi nd
written elsewhere—in fact, it is also referred to
as Bambino in Puglia, reinforcing the analogy
with a small child, and as Buonvino (good
wine). Farmers in Northern and Central Puglia
used to prefer it to the other local red grape,
Uva di Troia, because it is a more generous pro-
ducer, but Bombino Nero's role was always to
play second fi ddle to Negro Amaro. Just like
Canaiolo Nero in Chianti, Bombino Nero is
