Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Others believe Fogarina was found in a forest
called Fogarin near Guastalla, hence its name.
Another theory believes the name is derived
from fugare, or to run away, from the inunda-
tions of the Po River—apparently, the grape
variety was historically grown close to the river-
banks. Recent DNA tests have shown it might
be related to Lambrusco Marani and possibly to
Raboso Piave.
Centuries ago Fogarina thrived in the allu-
vial soils of the Po and lower Enza rivers, and it
was, along with Ancellotta, still the most abun-
dantly cultivated variety in Emilia in the fi rst
half of the nineteenth century, when it began
to lose ground to Lambrusco Maestri and For-
tana. According to Zini and Caleffi , the fi rst
Fogarina monovarietal bottling, produced by
Ettore Pecorini, dates to 1900. As recently as
the early twentieth century, 80 percent of all
the grapes grown in the Reggiana part of the
region were Fogarina and there was even a
wine producer named in its honor, Cantina
della Fogarina. Today Fogarina grows mainly
around the hamlets of Guastalla and Gualtieri,
around Modena. The Cantina Sociale di Gual-
tieri (a modern reincarnation of the original
Cantina della Fogarina) is currently involved in
a very meritorious safeguarding of the variety,
encouraging the cooperative's members to
plant it. Its fi rst wines were presented to the
public only in 2009, so this is a very recent
revival of a native grape and wine. Carlo
Simonazzi has also devoted time and energy to
this variety, planting sixty-two hundred vines
in 2001 propagated from an original ungrafted
grapevine he found near Pieve di Gualtieri,
near an old farmhouse. Simonazzi thinks the
grape is not ideally suited for winemaking, but
thanks to its high acidity, it can also be made
into Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale, though the
variety has not yet been offi cially registered for
this purpose by the Italian government.
According to Simonazzi at least two biotypes of
Fogarina exist; the green-stalked, which usu-
ally gives better wines but is very variable in
quality from year to year, and the red-stalked,
which apparently produces wines of more regu-
lar quality levels. It's also a very vigorous vari-
ety, easily producing in excess of 150 hectoliters
per hectare. Apparently there is one clone avail-
able, Fedit 7 C.S.G.
Which Wines to Choose and Why
Fogarina wines are characterized by good color
and extremely high acidities and so were his-
torically used in blends to add color, lower pH
values, and increase aroma. The variety can be
included in such IGT wines as Ravenna Rosso,
Forlì, and Rubicone.
wines to try: Cantina Sociale di Gualtieri**
(Demi Sec Rosé, a sparkling wine that is fresh
and enjoyable, redolent of wild strawberry and
raspberry aromas and fl avors, with a little bit of
residual sugar; Passito di Fogarina di Gualtieri,
a light and enjoyable sweet wine that is rich yet
lively, with syrupy red-cherry and strawberry
jam notes).
Foglia Tonda
where it's found: Tu sc a ny. national regis-
try code number: 82. color: red.
The name of this variety derives from the
shape of its leaf, which can be almost perfectly
round ( foglia tonda means round leaf). How-
ever, it is not to be confused with another
round-leafed variety called Foja Tonda (which is
not a synonym of Enantio, like you are liable to
read elsewhere) and Lambrusco a Foglia Tonda
(better known as Casetta), a cultivar native to
Trentino. Instead, Foglia Tonda is an ancient
variety related to Sangiovese and apparently
native to Chianti Classico. It was fi rst described
in the vineyards of the Castello di Brolio in
Gaiole in Chianti by Di Rovasenda in 1877;
later, Breviglieri and Casini (1964) described in
detail grapevines found near Arceno. Recently,
Crespan, Calò, Giannetto, Sparacio, Storchi,
and Costacurta have suggested a parent-off-
spring relationship between Foglia Tonda and
Sangiovese (2008).
Though Foglia Tonda is still a relatively
unknown variety, everyone seems to agree that
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