Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
gliano (interestingly, Centesimino shares an
isoenzymatic profi le with Aglianicone, Barsa-
glina, Cesanese Comune, Ciliegiolo, Franconia,
Montepulciano, and Moscato di Scanzo), and
fi nally DNA profi ling at the Istituto di Viticol-
tura in San Michele all'Adige.
Centesimino is an early-ripening variety,
often harvested in August, as it tends to build
up sugar levels easily. You might read that it's
picked in late September, but that's the theory:
in practice that doesn't happen. Leone Conti,
one of Emilia-Romagna's best wine producers,
says “it's a very vegetative variety: two weeks
before harvest it's still pushing out new leaves,
and it produces very little in the way of grapes.”
The grapes it does produce have a tendency to
shrivel on the vine, so the variety thrives only in
climates that are not particularly hot, partly
explaining why it hasn't moved into other wine
regions over time. However, its tendency to
dehydrate on the vine does make it an ideal can-
didate for sweet wine production, and in fact
some of the best Centesimino wines are
passiti,
or sweet wines made from air-dried grapes.
In the past, Centesimino was often con-
fused with Grenache, but genetic studies from
the CRPV of Faenza and isoenzymatic studies
performed at Conegliano have disproved this
notion. In fact, we now know that the so-called
Alicante del Faentino is actually a biotype of
Centesimino; there is something vaguely satis-
fying in seeing the lesser-known of the two
varieties gain the upper hand.
Though it can be found around Forlì and in
the valley of Brisighella, Centesimino is grown
mainly in Oriolo dei Fichi, a pretty town in a
small valley near Faenza, famous for its high-
quality ceramics and named after the more
than one hundred fi g trees planted courtesy of
the town's mayor decades ago.
are also Emilia, Forlì, and Rubicone IGT
bottlings available.
The wine will taste of red berries and sweet
spices, with telltale fresh acidity and lively tan-
nins packed on a light- to medium-bodied
frame. In my experience, the centisimino made
from grapes grown in the Val Camone (at
higher altitudes) is lighter, fresher, and more
refi ned in its aroma profi le than the heavier,
more structured wines from Oriolo. Neither is
better, but they are certainly different. Due to
its lightly aromatic nature, some experts believe
that centisimino resembles lacrima di Morro
d'Alba (a wine from the Marche made with the
similarly aromatic red native grape Lacrima),
but this is a mistake: the aromatic profi les of
the two wines are completely different, at least
to a trained “nose” (that of lacrima is more fl o-
ral, that of centisimino more fruity). Still, due
to the aromatic component (lavender, gera-
nium, bay leaf, rosemary, cinnamon, nutmeg)
centesimino does very well in a late-harvest,
air-dried style. Though not every producer in
the area makes a sweet version (for example,
Paolo Baini of Vigne dei Boschi doesn't like his
wine sweet), others maintain that as the wine is
quite tannic, a little sweetness goes a long way.
In my mind, it can also be a rather alcoholic
wine, because the grape packs in sugar easily.
According to Morini, “the wine oxidizes very
easily and doesn't age particularly well: it offers
the greatest pleasure when still young because
of its penetrating, spicy, fruity charm.”
In 1995 local producers united and formed
the Associazione Produttori della Torre di Ori-
olo, including Claudio Ancarani, Andrea Bal-
ducci, Mauro Altini of La Sabbiona estate, Paolo
Zoli, Quintan, Leone Conti, and Luciano Menti
of La Spinetta estate, aimed at promoting local
foodstuffs and centesimino.
Which Wines to Choose and Why
Centesimino wine can be labeled as an IGT
with the Centesimino name in full view, or
more often than not as Savignôn Rosso, or
Savignôn; lately there are increased bottlings of
IGT wines such as Ravenna Rosso, but there
wines to try:
Podere Morini*** (Savignone,
Traicolli Ravenna Centesimino Riserva, NV
Rubacuori Passito; the latter is a sweet red wine
not unlike a good Porto), Vigna dei Boschi**
(Rosso per te Rosso Ravenna), Ancarani**,
Leone Conti** (Arcolaio), Paolo Francesconi**
