Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Though Chatus does not accumulate huge
amounts of sugar (its wines are never too alco-
holic, not a bad thing in these days of climate
change), the variety's small berries have plenty
of polyphenols (both anthocyanins and tan-
nins), making the wines both deeply hued and
structured. As the anthocyanins are very stable,
the wines are characterized not only by deep
hues but by long-lasting ones. The deep ruby-
red, almost purple-black color of wines blended
with Chatus is very different than that of Barolo
or Barbaresco, which are made solely with Neb-
biolo. In fact, Pelizza and many other local
experts believe that Nebbiolo is an ideal blend-
ing partner for Chatus, especially since in the
Salluzese area Nebbiolo gives wines that are
even lighter colored than in the Langhe.
Pure Chatus wines are characterized by
deep purple-black hues and delicately spicy,
herbal aromas complicated by hints of blue-
berry and prunes. Chatus has a spicier and
more savory quality than does wine made with
Nebbiolo, and also lacks the perfume of red
roses that makes the Langhe variety so unique.
Try it with the local
salam 'd patata,
a salami
typical of the Canevesano area.
to Italy by pilgrims returning from Santiago de
Compostela). Its name means small cherry, as
both its berries and its wine smell of cherries.
When discussing Ciliegiolo, it is necessary
to also refer to Sangiovese, for a number of rea-
sons. First, Ciliegiolo's greatness has gone
unnoticed partly because it has always been
confused with Sangiovese (and a long list of
other varieties): tasting a monovarietal Ciliegi-
olo wine will reveal a striking similarity to bet-
ter monovarietal Sangiovese wines. In fact, I
believe that many of Tuscany's greatest Sangio-
vese wines have been made over the years,
unknowingly, with more or less large percent-
ages of Ciliegiolo, erroneously mistaken for the
more-famous cultivar. This is because wines
made with Ciliegiolo can exude very pure,
extremely refi ned and vibrant aromas and fl a-
vors of red berries and red cherries—just the
profi le found in many reportedly 100 percent
Sangiovese wines. Second, the two varieties
have also shared cultivation areas for a long
time. It will be no surprise then that the two
have morphological similarities that have often
been the cause of incorrect attributions. In fact,
in Montalcino there has always been a good
deal of Ciliegiolo grown, and star winemaker
and Sangiovese expert Maurizio Castelli states
that growers there always referred to it as
Brunellone (though there also exists a separate
Brunellone variety). Castelli has also told me
that “wines made with Ciliegiolo can be unsta-
ble, with a very high pH, but it was always a
favorite of Montalcino growers because it
increased color and perfume. For this reason,
they also called it Sangiovese Forte, but that's
another mistake, since the latter is a distinct
variety.” Third, it now appears likely that Cilie-
giolo is a progeny of Sangiovese.
At times it seems as though Ciliegiolo has
been confused with just about every other vari-
ety besides Sangiovese. It has been mistaken for
Garnacha (Grenache), as its erroneous syno-
nym Alicante di Spagna implies, and for Alea-
tico, as can be inferred from the just as errone-
ous synonym Aleatico di Spagna. It has also
been considered synonymous with Riminese
wines to try:
Caretto Loris** (one of the fi rst
estates to have believed in Chatus), Podere del
Palas** (Desmentià), and Tomatis* (Neiran-
tich); the Cantina Sperimentale Bonafus has
also produced pure examples of this wine.
Ciliegiolo
where it's found:
Tuscany, Lazio, Liguria,
Puglia, Umbria.
national registry code
number:
62.
color:
red.
In my view, Ciliegiolo is one of the country's
greatest but most underappreciated grape vari-
eties, allowing for wines of mesmerizingly
pure aromas and fl avors. Ciliegiolo was most
likely fi rst described in the 1600s by Soderini,
whose description of a Ciriegiuolo grapevine
resembles the Ciliegiolo we know today. It does
not appear to be of Spanish origin as was once
believed (legend had it that it was brought back
