Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
rently, Canina Nera is grown only in Emilia-
Romagna mainly around the towns of Russi,
Santo Alberto, Bagnacavallo, Faenza, Cotignola,
Lugo, and Castel Bolognese. It is essentially a
local phenomenon and the wine is rarely seen
outside its production zone.
the more mature canèna wine is classically dry
and can age a few years.
Wines I have tried by local farmers reveal a
pale red hue, almost like a rosato, with lovely
aromas of pomegranate, black fruits, and wet
earth. It's a very acid, almost tart wine (though
this may be more a result of how the farmer
grew the grapes and when they were harvested)
with lively tannins, generally slightly off-dry
and low in alcohol (9-11.5 percent). Locals
enjoy it matched to the typical dish bel e cot, a
cotechino (that is, a very fatty sausage) that
greatly benefi ts from canina nera's high acidity.
The estate on which I am pinning my hopes is
Tenuta Uccellina near Russi, which has planted
Canina Nera grapevines and is actively study-
ing the grape and its potential to make a mono-
varietal wine to be sold commercially.
Which Wines to Choose and Why
Canina Nera is a little-studied variety that
yields bright fresh wines that have a vivid tan-
nic streak and plenty of acidity, the exact merits
of which are being rediscovered. It is included
among the authorized varieties in a number of
IGT wines such as Emilia, Ravenna, and Rubi-
cone. It's not easy to taste a pure example, as
Canina Nera is almost always blended with
other varieties such as Ancellotta and
Marzemino. Furthermore, as it is a mainly
local, artisanally made product, each farmer
tends to make it following his or her own rec-
ipe. For this reason, the researchers have estab-
lished that to make a proper canina nera wine,
the blend should be as follows: Canina Nera
(minimum) 50 percent, Barzamé (Marzemino)
25 percent; Cornacchia 10 percent; Ancellotta 5
percent; Tinturie Romagnole and/or Colorino 8
percent; Pignolo Nero 1 percent; and Romanino
(Corinto Nero) 1 percent. That complicated
blend may seem strange, but Tebano's Marisa
Fontana, one of the leading grapevine scientists
in Italy, believes that canina nera was once
made using even more grape varieties. Legend
has it that canina nera was a favorite wine of
Stefano Pelloni, a highway robber nicknamed Il
Passatore and his band of outlaws, who used to
drink copious amounts of it from the tradi-
tional mugs of terracotta used in and around
the town of Cotignola. Historically, this wine
fl owed copiously during Russi's Fiera dei Sette
Dolori (a religious feast for Our Lady of Sor-
rows), which has been held in the third week of
September since 1876. Producers come to the
festival to show off their canèna nova (a term in
local dialect meaning “new canina,” akin to
Beaujolais Nouveau), a fresh young Canina
Nera wine that is still fi nishing alcoholic fer-
mentation and is often cloudy and lightly sweet;
wines to try: Tenut a Uccel lina* *.
Cannonau
where it's found: Sardinia. national regis-
try code number: 51 (also listed at number 10
as Alicante and at number 236 as Tocai Rosso).
color: red.
Many years ago, I realized that studying
Cannonau was going to be diffi cult: producers
couldn't even agree (in fact, still can't) on its
spelling, never mind all the rest. Some want it
called Cannonao, others Cannonau; still others
maintain that Cannonao is the variety's correct
name, while cannonau (with a fi nal “u” instead
of an “o” ) is the name of the wine. The National
Registry lists the grape as Cannonau, so that is
the spelling I use in this topic.
Nevertheless, Cannonau has tales to tell
that we can all learn from. First, it offers a good
example of the diffi culties involved in writing a
topic on Italy's native grapes: simply put, for
historical, sentimental, and fi nancial reasons,
nobody in Italy wants to accept that a locally
important grape variety may not be a native.
Hence, people from all walks of the wine world
trip all over themselves trying to fi nd historical
documentation (that almost always amounts to
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