Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
that's an impressive fi gure, it is noteworthy that
it is a huge decrease from the 75 percent of only
fi fteen years ago. Interestingly, the
Cataratto
s
are also planted in California, but acreage is
decreasing there as well.
mutation. Not very well known outside its
immediate production zone, Centesimino is a
lightly aromatic red variety that has been grown
in Romagna in ever-increasing quantities since
World War II. All the grapevines planted in the
countryside around Oriolo (the epicenter of
Centesimino wine production) derive from the
Terbato estate owned by Pietro Pianori, nick-
named Centesimino (literally “small cent,” or
tightwad). Apparently, it was Pianori who
decided to propagate cuttings from a centenary
vine he had found in the garden of a noble fam-
ily's villa in the heart of Faenza's downtown,
the likes of which he had never seen before.
Centesimino's very large, indented leaf is a
striking sight, but only in Italy can someone
hope to fi nd a long-lost native grape variety in
the middle of a bustling city! Thanks to his
efforts, Centesimino and its wines are now on
their way to a comeback; and so, since the
1960s, the variety has been called Centesimino
in his honor. A good idea, since without his
efforts it is likely the variety would have gone
extinct.
Going unrecognized has been a common
fate for this variety. Alessandro Morini of the
Podere Morini estate had a story similar to Pia-
nori's to tell: “When I bought the estate in
1998, among the many parcels of Sangiovese I
also found this group of roughly forty-year-old,
really weird-looking vines, unlike anything I
had ever seen before. I thought it might have
been Sangiovese that had been really manhan-
dled by viruses, but by asking around I learned
it was Centesimino, a variety the local old-tim-
ers knew well, but not us newcomers.” Morini
recalls that even Veronelli, Italy's greatest wine
writer, didn't know Centesimino when he vis-
ited the estate in 2003; Veronelli actually rec-
ommended asking the high-quality Capovilla
distillery about distilling Centesimino for
grappa production. The variety was included in
the National Registry only in 2004, after
ampelographic studies had been completed by
the nearby Centro Ricerche Produzioni Vegetali
(CRPV) in Tebano, isoenzymatic analysis at the
Istituto Sperimentale di Viticoltura of Cone-
Which Wines to Choose and Why
The main DOC wines that can be 100 percent
Cataratto
are Alcamo, Contea di Sclafani, Mon-
reale, and Santa Margherita di Belice (the latter
two will be harder to fi nd). Both
Cataratto
s are
used in the white-wine blends of DOC Contessa
Entellina, Menfi , and Sambuca di Sicilia. How-
ever, the variety's long association with low-
quality wines with a penchant for facile oxida-
tion (which explains its time-honored use in
the production of Marsala) has caused the
Ca -
taratto
s to be planted in signifi cant numbers in
regions other than Sicily. A good cataratto is
medium- to full-bodied and not unlike a char-
donnay, though I always wonder if that's
because more than a little of that international
has been added to the Cataratto wine. Certainly,
Cataratto wines are best when made from
grapes grown on higher hillsides, so that the
variety may conserve its acidity and deliver
more penetrating aromas and fl avors. Aromas
and fl avors of sage, thyme, banana, pineapple,
butter, and ripe citrus are common, with a
slightly buttery, bitter twinge at the back.
wines to try:
BioViola*** (Yule), Cento-
passi** (Terre Rosse di Giabbascio), Feudo
Montoni**, Calatrasi-Accademia del Sole*, and
Gambino* (Meridiano).
Centesimino
where it's found:
Emilia-Romagna.
national
registry code number:
378.
color:
red.
Centesimino is also known in Emilia-
Romagna's Faenza area as Sauvignôn Rosso or
Savignôn Rosso, though nobody seems to know
why or how the latter names were born—and
I've asked! The name is really a curious choice,
for Centesimino is certainly unrelated to Sauvi-
gnon Blanc or any other Sauvignon color per-
