Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
centuries, Erbaluce wines were also tradition-
ally used by families to greet important guests
(Nuvolone 1798; De Maria and Leardi 1875).
Even though it's a high-acid variety, Erbaluce
is usually trained in canopy systems (called
topia
in the Canavese region where Erbaluce
grows), so as to have a thick wall of leaves pro-
tecting the hanging grape bunches from hail,
always a risk in this northern part of Italy.
Clearly, grapes trained in this manner see less
sunlight too, so proper vineyard work has to be
done, with selective deleafi ng in order to allow
enough sunlight. From a viticultural perspec-
tive, and for a variety of reasons, Erbaluce is not
the easiest variety to work with. Budbreak
occurs early, so spring frosts, which are not
uncommon in northerly Piedmont, are a threat.
Despite high vigor, Erbaluce is not the most
obliging producer, due to the double whammy
of susceptibility to common grapevine diseases
and poor fertility, which makes for yields that
are both low and irregular. Walking through the
vineyards, you'll notice that Erbaluce leaves are
often marked by white borders, a characteristic
sign of magnesium defi ciency, not uncommon
in the calcareous soils where Erbaluce grows.
Erbaluce's leaf is highly recognizable, with a
bulbous upper surface, very pronounced sinus
indentations, and a round shape. Usually,
Erbaluce's grape bunch is medium-sized, elon-
gated, and cylindrical, with medium-large,
round, thick-skinned berries. However, its
appearance will depend on which clone or bio-
type is observed. Tedeschini described two bio-
types of Erbaluce in 1930: of these, the higher-
quality pink-stalked one was sicklier and poorly
productive, and essentially disappeared by the
mid-twentieth century. Today there are four
clones of Erbaluce available: the CVT 29 has
berries that tend to become amber-pink when
ripe, CVT 30 yields the most typical wines,
while clone 71 is very compact and subject to rot
(so is rarely used to make sweet wines), and
CVT 55 is characterized by the highest acidity,
which is already high in all Erbaluce clones.
Today Erbaluce is planted on roughly 250
hectares in Piedmont, mainly immediately out-
side Turin, as well as in the provinces of Biella
and Novara. It has also been sporadically
planted in Lombardy in the past, but Erbaluce is
one Italian native grape variety that really hasn't
traveled much outside its main production
zone.
Which Wines to Choose and Why
The most famous wine is the DOC Erbaluce di
Caluso (Piedmont's fi rst white DOC wine,
named in 1967), right around the bucolic ham-
let of Caluso, but Colline Novaresi Erbaluce (or
Bianco) and Coste della Sesia Erbaluce, also
DOC wines, can be just as good—note that
these Erbaluce wines, produced outside the
offi cial Caluso DOC zone, cannot be labeled
di
Caluso.
Caluso is a uniquely blessed area for
Erbaluce because of its nutrient-deficient,
sandy-gravel soils, rich in potassium and phos-
phates. The best sites are all located in an
amphitheater roughly four kilometers long and
include true
crus
such as Baiarda, Barbetta,
Castellazzo, Feralda, Macellio, Montasso,
Sant'Andrea, Sant'Antonino, and Santa Croce.
Other noteworthy sites, located at slightly lower
altitudes in more fertile soils, include Cose,
Madonna, Pero, Quaro, and Viassola.
Erbaluce wines can be still or sparkling, but
all are dry wines, though an excellent DOCG
dessert wine, Caluso Passito, is also made with
Erbaluce; there are also wonderful, sweet Erba-
luce wines that are not DOCGs. Sweet wines
would seem to be a logical choice for Erbaluce,
as the berry's thick skins are ideal for air-dry-
ing: in fact, Mas and Pulliat documented that
this part of Italy once used to make
vins de paille
in the French manner. Today, sweet wines from
late-harvested grapes are made (with pleasant if
delicate aromas and fl avors of apricots, peach,
and acacia honey) but are rarer, given the
region's climate. The air-dried sweet wines,
with their resiny, tannic quality and bittersweet
chestnut honey, almond, dried fi g, and saffron
fl avors that linger on the long sweet, tropical-
fruit aftertaste, hark back to the Campanian
Greco, though this is where similarities end.
Erbaluce dry wines are dainty and fresh, very
