Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
wines to try:
For Etna Bianco Superiore, try:
Benanti*** (Pietramarina) and Barone di Vil-
lagrande**. For Etna Bianco, try: Fessina***
(Bianco A' Puddara), Vivera** (Bianco Sali-
sire), Graci* (Quota 600 Bianco, 30 percent
Cataratto), and Girolamo Russo* (Bianco
Nerina, which contains a percentage of Coda di
Volpe Bianca—it never ceases to amaze me how
a truly local Campanian cultivar like Coda di
Volpe can fi nd its way elsewhere in Italy in
time!). For Sicilia, try: Gulfi *** (Carjcanti).
best, and also very unhelpful for those who
want to learn about Italy's native grapes and
wines. A study by Costantini, Monaco, Vouil-
lamoz, Forlani, and Grando (2005) suggested
that Casavecchia may be related to Summari-
ello (though it's not clear which Summariello
they mean, as this is a synonym of both Uva di
Troia and another Puglian variety called Som-
marello), Catalanesca, and Barbera del Sannio.
The authors conclude that as all these varieties
are genetically distant from other Campanian
cultivars, they may all be only relatively recent
introductions to Campania. Obviously, this is
not the only conclusion that can be drawn, and
in fact the same authors write that other varie-
ties, restricted in their diffusion to interior
niche habitats, share a lower percentage of SSR
markers with other Campanian varieties. It
seems to me this line of reasoning could also
apply to Casavecchia, which also has a limited
distribution, and living in isolation is also
likely to have maintained a specifi c and uncon-
taminated genetic makeup. Hence, it doesn't
have to be a “recent” introduction to Campania
at all. To date, the study by Masi, Vignani, Di
Giovannantonio, Mancuso, and Boselli (2001)
remains the one specifi cally devoted to Casavec-
chia, with ampelographic and DNA analysis (at
eight SSR loci) performed. Their results show
that Casavecchia is related to Pallagrello Nero
(another local variety typical of the Caserta
area) but is distinct from all other Campanian
varieties, as well as from Sangiovese. The most
recent study broaching Casavecchia parentage
somewhat confusingly states that Casavecchia
is the result of a natural cross of Malvasia
Bianca di Candia and Cecubo (not Abbuoto, as
erroneously reported elsewhere; these research-
ers consider Cecubo a synonym of a variety
called Tintoria or Tintiglia), yet also provides
evidence that Cecubo is the result of a natural
crossing of Casavecchia and Piedirosso (Cipri-
ani, Spadotto, Jurman, Di Gaspero, Crespan,
Meneghetti, et al. 2010). I spoke about this
apparent contradiction directly with Raffaele
Testolin, senior author of the Cipriani research
paper and professor of agricultural sciences at
Casavecchia
where it's found:
Campania.
national reg-
istry code number:
365.
color:
red.
Casavecchia owes its name (“old house”) to
the discovery of a unknown centenary vine by a
farmer, Prisco Scirocco, at the end of the nine-
teenth century, outside the ruins of an ancient
Roman home near the town of Pontelatone, in
northern Campania's province of Caserta. At
fi rst nobody could have cared less, and even the
fi rst attempts at winemaking went unnoticed;
but eventually, the variety was taken to heart by
local farmers who propagated it, often
ungrafted, and continued to make wine for
local consumption. Around the turn of the
twenty-first century, Peppe Mancini and
Alberto Barletta of the estate Vestini Campa-
gnano (assisted by the infi nite talents of profes-
sor and winemaker Luigi Moio) brought
Casavecchia to national attention, thanks
mainly to a string of vintages that really
impressed. Unfortunately, Barletta and Man-
cini later had a falling out, and Mancini moved
on, founding the Terre del Principe estate;
today, these two are the estates leading the pack
in terms of quality Casavecchia wines.
Not much is yet known about the variety,
though in the past there have been suggestions
that Casavecchia might be related to the
trebu-
lanum
cited by Pliny; besides the fact that an
almost endless list of other grapes and wines
have been linked to
trebulanum,
as there is no
manner by which to determine the synonymity
of the two, similar statements are inaccurate at
