Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Chatus has still other synonyms depending on
where it grows in the region. It goes by Bru-
netta and Scarlattinin in Val di Susa, and Bra-
chet in the Canavese (though the latter is a
mistake: Brachet is a different variety). It is
unrelated to the better-known Nebbiolo, and for
this reason the variety is increasingly being
called Chatus, in order to avoid confusion with
the more famous cultivar of the Langhe.
As this topic is devoted to Italy's native and
traditional grapes, the question before us is
whether Chatus is a native of France's Ardèche
and Isère regions (where it is also called Cha-
tus), and therefore only traditional to Pied-
mont, or if it traveled in the opposite direction,
making it a traditional, not native, variety of
France. On Italy's behalf, Rovera (1981) found
documents dating 1268 and 1399 attesting to a
Nebiolus grown around Dronero. While it's
possible that the grape being described was
Nebbiolo, that variety was never grown much
in this neck of the Piedmontese woods, so
more than likely, it was Chatus being described.
Relative to France, the oldest mention of a Cha-
tus dates only to the 1600s, when Olivier de
Serres described it as one of the best varieties
of Ardèche (then called Vivarais). Apparently,
DNA parentage analysis has implied that a
crossing of Chatus and Gouais Blanc gave birth
to Sérénèze de Voreppe, an abandoned variety
in France, admitted into the offi cial French
catalogue of grape varieties in 2012. Were it
proven true that Sérénèze is a natural progeny
of Chatus and Gouais Blanc, that would make
a French origin more likely, since the latter is a
very rare variety in Italy (if it's present at all).
Nowadays, Chatus is almost extinct in France,
while it hangs on, albeit in small amounts, in
Italy; and it is also one of the parents of many
Italian laboratory crossings. For all these rea-
sons, I view Chatus as an Italian, rather than
French, grape.
Confusion and Chatus have always gone
hand in hand. One fi ne mess was caused (or is
it endured?) by Italy's esteemed Giovanni Dal-
masso, the academic responsible for the crea-
tion of some of Italy's best laboratory grapevine
crossings, among them his crossing of Chatus
with Barbera to create Albarossa, one of Italy's
most successful crossings ever. However, the
researcher believed it was the real Nebbiolo that
he was crossing with Barbera, not the Nebbiolo
of Dronero, which is of course Chatus. In fact,
the poor professor was fooled more than once:
Torello Marinoni, Raimondi, Mannini, and
Rolle (2009) have shown that practically all
Dalmasso's crossings are offspring of Chatus
instead of Nebbiolo. Consequently, Chatus is a
parent of the following laboratory crossings:
Albarossa, Cornarea, Nebbiera, Passau, San
Martino, San Michele, Soperga, and Valentino
Nero (see chapter 6). Stories such as these are
common outside Italy as well (remember
Müller-Thurgau, long believed to be a crossing
of Riesling and Sylvaner, which it isn't) and
confi rm that identifying grape varieties on the
basis of inaccurate ampelography is fraught
with peril.
A mutation of Chatus is known as Nebbiolo
Pairolé or Pirolé, the berries of which are char-
acterized by so little bloom that they look black
as the bottom of a dark pot, or
paiolo,
in Italian.
Interestingly, this mutation has been observed
in France too, where it is known as Noir de
Maure. Chatus is very sensitive to hail and
slightly sensitive to oidium, but it's an easy vari-
ety to grow and is resistant to grey rot. As it is
very vigorous and productive (but with poor
basal bud fertility), green harvests are a neces-
sity, especially on fertile fl atland soils where the
quality of wines produced with Chatus is aver-
age at best. Once very common, Chatus is found
today only in the lower Val Maira, mainly on the
hills around Saluzzo and Pinerolo. Save for
some grapevines still found in Ardèche, it had
virtually disappeared from France, but has been
the subject of some plantings recently around
the villages of Largentière and Rozière, in an
effort to revive both the variety and the wine.
Which Wines to Choose and Why
Chatus is often blended with other local varie-
ties, such as Barbera or Neretta Cuneese, pro-
viding such blends with body and structure.
