Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Nero, Mazzese, and Sangiovese Polveroso, but
the last two synonyms are erroneous, as Maz-
zese and Sangiovese Polveroso are different vari-
eties (see SANGIOVESE entry; see MAZZESE,
chapter 5). It's not surprising then that Ciliegi-
olo has also been the subject of a famous scien-
tifi c misattribution in Italy, on a similar level as
the California Refosco / Mondeuse Noire and
Australia Albariño / Savagnin capers. In 2004,
Calò, Costacurta, Carraro, and Crespan, analyz-
ing data from Crespan, Calò, Costacurta,
Milani, Giust, Carraro, and Di Stefano (2002),
mistakenly identifi ed Aglianicone with Ciliegi-
olo. This happened when a Ciliegiolo grapevine
mislabeled as Aglianicone in the varietal collec-
tion was used for the genetic profi ling. As Cili-
egiolo and Aglianicone resemble each other
(wouldn't you know it, Ciliegiolo can look like
Aglianico too!), erroneous ampelographic rec-
ognitions and sampling errors are easy to make.
It may be that some—but not all—of the many
grapevines called Aglianicone basking in the
Campanian countryside are in fact Ciliegiolo
(see AGLIANICONE entry). But experts, includ-
ing Luigi Moio (professor of enology and wine-
maker) and Castelli, do not believe that Agliani-
cone and Ciliegiolo are identical. Others have
suggested that Emilia-Romagna's Albana Nera
and Ciliegiolo may be the same cultivar, but I
believe this to be impossible: I have seen numer-
ous Albana Nera and Ciliegiolo grapevines and
they look nothing like each other. Which doesn't
mean that some so-called Albana Nera vines
growing in Emilia-Romagna aren't actually Cili-
egiolo, but certainly not all Albana Nera is Cili-
egiolo, or vice versa.
Apparently, recognizing Ciliegiolo is diffi -
cult enough: however, Ciliegiolo's parentage is
just as complex. DNA parentage analysis has
shown that Ciliegiolo and Sangiovese have a
parent-offspring relationship (Crespan, Calò,
Costacurta, Milani, Giust, Carraro, and Di Ste-
fano 2002), while later research showed San-
giovese to be the natural progeny of Ciliegiolo
and an almost-unknown variety called Cala-
brese di Montenuovo that's not listed in the
National Registry (Vouillamoz, Imazio, Ste-
fanini, Scienza, and Grando 2004; Vouillamoz,
Monaco, Costantini, Stefanini, Scienza, and
Grando 2007). Unfortunately, this last conclu-
sion does not jell with a DNA parentage study
in which Ciliegiolo was shown to be a natural
cross of Sangiovese and Moscato Violetto, also
known as Muscat Rouge de Madère (Di Vecchi
Staraz, Bandinelli, Boselli, This, Boursiquot,
Laucou, Lacombe, and Varès 2007). This would
mean Sangiovese cannot be a progeny of Cilie-
giolo but rather that the opposite is true. The
fi nding that Ciliegiolo is the offspring of a San-
giovese × Moscato Violetto cross was also con-
fi rmed in another study (Cipriani, Spadotto,
Jurman, Di Gaspero, Crespan, Meneghetti, et
al. 2010). Another recent study has concluded
that Sangiovese is the result of a Ciliegiolo and
Negrodolce cross, the latter a little-known Ital-
ian cultivar (Bergamini, Caputo, Gasparro, Per-
niola, Cardone, and Antonacci 2012). Clearly,
this is a matter that needs to be studied in more
detail.
Ciliegiolo's bunch is large and long (average
weight 350-460 grams), pyramidal, and com-
pact with one or two wings; it has medium-
large round berries. It's sensitive to grey rot,
strong wind, and spring frosts, but drought
resistant. Its budbreak occurs after that of San-
giovese but before that of Canaiolo Nero; it rip-
ens early, often by the end of August, and it is
both a very vigorous and a reliable producer.
Available clones include U.S. PI FI Pec. 21, VCR
1, CL CAB 8, ARSIAL-CRA 223, and UBA-RA
CI 3. Its large, round berries pose potential
problems with bloating and busting. The key is
to plant Ciliegiolo in soils that have excellent
water drainage (therefore never in fl atland vine-
yards); hillside positions are also best because
mildly windy conditions are ideal for Ciliegio-
lo's large, botrytis-prone bunch. Ciliegiolo's
vigor makes for diffi cult times in the vineyard,
producing excessive foliage that must be
removed or thinned to ward off the risk of rot in
excessively humid conditions. Viticulture
expert Stefano Dini told me that for this reason,
people have always selected Ciliegiolo grape-
vines with the loosest-packed bunches of
