Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
cess, or lack thereof, will ultimately be the
deciding factor relative to Casetta's potential as
a noble wine grape. Currently, only Albino
Armani produces a monovarietal casetta for
commercial sale. His fi rst vintage dates to 1994
and I have never had a wine that is less than
excellent. The wines to try are the DOC Terre
dei Forti (created only in 2006) and IGT blends
such as Delle Venezie, Vallagarina, and Vigneti
delle Dolomiti.
advanced age of most of the remaining vine-
yards, most Catalanesca vines are still on their
original rootstocks.
A Catalanesca Nera grows in the province of
Caserta, but it is not clear whether it is related
to Catalanesca or is a distinct variety. Costan-
tini, Monaco, Vouillamoz, Forlani, and Grando
(2005) suggested that Catalanesca may be
related to Casavecchia, Summariello (that is,
either Uva di Troia or the Puglian Somma-
rello), and Barbera del Sannio. Interestingly,
another local variety called Gianniello (with
which Catalanesca used to be blended to make
Vesuvius white wines) is now considered a bio-
type of Catalanesca. According to Benny Sor-
rentino, the young and talented winemaker of
the family estate of the same name, there are
two biotypes of Catalanesca, one of which may
correspond to Gianniello (or not): one biotype
is characterized by a cylindrical bunch with
elongated, loosely packed, oval berries; the
other has bunches that are more conical and
compact, because the ramifi cations from the
main stalk are shorter and hence the berries are
packed closer together. There are also differ-
ences between Catalanesca populations in
Campania today: the Catalanesca studied by
the University of Turin in 2008 presented note-
worthy genetic differences from the Catala-
nesca reported on by the University of Naples in
2005. This raises the question whether both
were true Catalanesca varieties to begin with.
Clearly, more research is needed for what is
essentially a recently rediscovered variety. Anto-
nio Mastroberardino perhaps summed it up
best when I asked him about this cultivar:
instinctively throwing his hands up in the air,
he smiled, “We just don't know enough about it
yet . . . and anyway, for me, it's just too weird
and aromatic!”
As Catalanesca's cluster is very sparse, and
the berries thick skinned, it can stand being
left on the vine to achieve degrees of
surmatu-
rité;
it also keeps very well once picked, explain-
ing why it makes such a great table grape (the
sweet, large berries are another plus, of course).
A late ripener (it's typically harvested at the end
wines to try:
Albino Armani***.
Catalanesca
where it's found:
Campania.
national reg-
istry code number:
398 (also listed as Catala-
nesca Bianca at number 508, as a table grape).
color:
white.
For a variety that has always been viewed as
an excellent table grape, it's surprising that
almost every ampelographer describing Catala-
nesca in centuries past was convinced of its fi ne
winemaking potential. Yet, it was offi cially rec-
ognized as a cultivar from which to make wine
only in 2006; prior to this date, Catalanesca in
Italy was thought of primarily as a table grape.
Presently it is listed as a wine grape and a table
grape in the National Registry. Most likely of
Spanish origin, as its name clearly implies (it is
also known as Catalana or Uva Catalana), local
lore would have it that Catalanesca arrived in
Campania in the mid-1400s along with Alfonso
I of Aragon, the king of the Kingdom of the
Two Sicilies. At that time it was planted on the
slopes of the Monte Somma, at altitudes rang-
ing between 150 and 500 meters above sea
level; it appears to have taken extremely well to
the volcanic soils, and was soon planted every-
where on and around the volcano. Catalanesca
was already well known in and around Naples
in the fi fteenth century, and in fact was of great
signifi cance to the Vesuvian economy up until
the 1950s, as it was the main variety used to
make the wine Lacryma Christi Bianco, though
it later lost out to Caprettone. Interestingly,
because of the volcanic soils (clearly, phylloxera
was never a problem on Vesuvius) and the
