Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
trying to produce a wine that typifi es the pro-
duction of the island of Mazzorbo.” Desiderio
Bisol added that “back in 2002, when we
started searching for Dorona grapevines in the
other islands, we weren't sure we'd get any-
where, so you can imagine how happy we are to
have produced our fi rst wine with the 2010 vin-
tage.” Almost as happy as I was to taste a sip of
history, a wine made from a grape that, if it
hadn't been for Bisol, none of us would know
much about. And though I wish they'd make a
“normal” bottling of Dorona too, I am very
thankful for their efforts and passion.
that they have ripened enough to accumulate
plenty of sugar so that they are technically ripe,
but their polyphenols—namely the tannins—
may not be ripe yet), so even ripe-looking
grapes may taste tough and astringent. Worse,
there may be asynchronous maturation, so that
the grape bunch often has a speckled look, with
dark berries alongside obviously green ones.
The variety was greatly damaged by the arrival
of phylloxera, and its diffusion in Piedmont has
been limited ever since.
Though some believe the grape can be con-
fused with other varieties such as Ciliegiolo, I
don't see how, given how different the two cul-
tivars look—but then Ciliegiolo has often been
the source of misidentifi cations. Doux d'Henry
is affected by
millerandage
and berry shatter,
and when its bunches are compact, botrytis
bunch rot becomes a problem too. However,
being both an early ripener and very frost
resistant, it is an ideal variety for the cold Pied-
mont areas it inhabits. Doux d'Henry has func-
tionally female fl owers, and so requires the
presence of other pollinating varieties in the
vineyard to be fertilized.
Though Doux d'Henry is especially typical
of—and most likely native to—the countryside
stretching from the town of Pinerolo right up to
the entry of the Val Pellice, nowadays its diffu-
sion is limited to small pockets on the outskirts
of Torino, to Piedmont's Pinerolese area
(around Prarostino), and to the Valle Chisone
and the Valle Germanasca.
wines to try:
Venissa / Bisol** (Dorona Venis-
sa).
Doux d'Henry
where it's found:
Piedmont.
national reg-
istry code number:
75.
color:
red.
The origins of the peculiarly named Doux
d'Henry, a rare native variety, are unclear, but
despite its French name, the majority of experts
now believe it to be a true native of the Pinero-
lese area of Piedmont. It wasn't always so: ear-
lier luminar ies such as Incisa and Di Rovasenda
were in complete disagreement, the former
believing it was of French origin, while the lat-
ter held out for a Pinerolese origin. The vari-
ety's name is believed to have been coined in
1600, when King Henri IV of France, in Italy to
sign a treaty with Piedmont's King Carlo
Emanuele I of Savoy, tasted and liked a sweet
wine reportedly made with the grape. It is likely
these wines sported residual sugar, either pur-
posefully or as a result of stuck fermentations
(not an unlikely event in Piedmont's cold
weather and cellars)—this explains the
doux,
or sweet, in its name.
In the 1800s Doux d'Henry was considered
an excellent wine grape, but was also appreci-
ated as a table grape due to its large, sweet ber-
ries. Unfortunately, many of Doux d'Henry's
berries do not reach full poyphenolic ripeness
even at full technological maturity (when
grapes reach technological maturity, it means
Which Wines to Choose and Why
Doux d'Henry has always been used in blends,
adding perfume to wines, though there are a
number of very good, refreshing monovarietal
red wines made. However, today it is being
studied as a potential source of very good
rosato
and even late-harvest or air-dried monovarietal
wines. Microvinifi cations have revealed it as a
light and fragrant, delicately fruity wine with
fl avors and aromas of sour red cherry and red
berries. The DOC Pinerolese Doux d'Henry
wines are probably best, but the variety is also
included in DOC Rosso Pinerolese wine blends.
