Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Garganega and Bermestia Bianca, a table grape
from Emilia-Romagna, might mean that
Dorona is not as old as is commonly believed.
However, Bermestia Bianca is not offi cially
listed among Italy's table grapes in the National
Registry, and references from the early twenti-
eth century also speak of a Piedmontese Ber-
mestia, as well as of a red-berried Bermestia, so
I'm not sure what to think.
In any case, in time Dorona seemed to
slowly disappear, or more likely, was just con-
fused with the more famous and abundant
Garganega. Nowadays, though Dorona vines
are liberally sprinkled throughout Veneto, the
cultivar is rare. Researchers from the Univer-
sity of Verona have located it in persuasive
numbers on the Sordato estate in Selva di
Montebello, and have pinpointed a similar but
different variety on the estate of Ca' Piovene in
Toara. The Bisol family has also traced its pres-
ence on the islands of the Venetian lagoon,
notably Torcello and Sant'Erasmo, and planted
it on nearby Mazzorbo, literally across a bridge
from pretty Burano, famous for its colorful
homes (the
buranelli
) and lace of exquisite
manufacture. “Ten years ago,” recalls Gian-
luca Bisol, “while visiting the basilica on beau-
tiful Torcello with an American client, I
noticed a few vines dispersed among other
plants in the walled garden of the house close
by the basilica, so I asked the owner if I could
have a look. I was surprised to fi nd three vines
of Dorona, which I had never heard of or seen
before anywhere in the area.” Bisol contacted
Venetian researcher Carla Coco to study the
vines, began searching for more Dorona until
another ninety vines were identifi ed elsewhere
in the lagoon, and the rest is history. It is safe
to say that prior to Bisol's interest, few knew or
had heard about Dorona. In fact, Dorona is
such a recently rediscovered grape that its offi -
cial listing in the National Registry dates back
to only 2012.
Morphologically, Dorona looks to me very
much like an opulent Garganega, with bigger
berries and bunches (typically long and some-
what cylindrical like Garganega's), though I've
noticed considerable ampelographic variation
between accessions within the same vineyard.
The variety is vigorous and produces constant
and abundant yields: a long-cane pruning sys-
tem is best. Dorona has demonstrated low sen-
sitivity to fungal diseases, in particular botry-
tis, with a long conservation capacity both on
the vine and once harvested, which explains its
past use as a table grape.
Which Wines to Choose and Why
Due to Dorona being interplanted in Veneto
vineyards with Garganega, I fi nd it likely that
many Soave and Gambellara wines have,
unknowingly, always been made with a small
proportion of Dorona. However, the only
important Dorona vineyard I know of today is
currently found on Mazzorbo on the ancient
ScarpaVolo estate, where the Bisol family
planted grapevines and makes the wine called
Venissa (near their stunningly beautiful coun-
try hotel, which shares a name with the wine).
Desiderio, Gianluca, and all of the Bisol family
deserve the highest credit and much applause
for their passion and desire to preserve the rich
but endangered biodiversity of the Venetian
lagoon (their estate is also home to rare native
varieties of other fruits and vegetables). As
Dorona produces a light, crisp white wine not
so different from that made with Garganega,
the Bisol family and their consultant wine-
maker Roberto Cipresso feared a Dorona wine
might go unnoticed. Therefore, they decided to
ferment on the skins and leave the must in con-
tact with air, then to age the wine in oak. The
fi nal result is certainly interesting and fi ne, but
I'm not sure the character traits of Dorona are
shown to their fullest effect. However, the most
recent vintage of Venissa, just released in 2013,
is light years better than any Venissa I tasted
previously, revealing a much fresher, easier-to-
drink wine with recognizable garganega-like
aroma and fl avors. Gianluca Bisol told me “I'm
not sure that using Dorona to make just another
white wine would have added much—there are
already many fresh, linear white wines made
in Veneto and Italy today. With Venissa we are
