Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Which Wines to Choose and Why
Today, Forgiarin is grown only in the Porde-
none province, around Pinzano al Tagliamento
and Castelnovo del Friuli. With little produc-
tion volume, there is clearly no DOC available.
Emilio Bulfon's example has spurred other
local growers to try their hand at making and
bottling monovarietal Forgiarin. I love a good
forgiarin: in fact, there are few Italian wines I
enjoy drinking more during a hot summer day
than these lightly colored, fresh, fl oral, almond-
and blackcurrant-accented medium-bodied
reds. Forgiarin wines remind me of well-made
Schiava (Lago di Caldaro, Santa Maddalena) or
light-bodied Pinot Nero wines.
mented in Emilia-Romagna in the sixteenth
century by Agostino Gallo; in 1825 Acerbi wrote
that it also grew in Lombardy's Oltrepò Pavese
and the Veneto. However, others believe that
Fortana was cultivated by the Benedictine
monks of the abbey of Pomposa starting in the
eleventh century.
Fortana is characterized by very high intra-
varietal variability, so that there are numerous
biotypes phenotypically quite different from
each other. One important biotype found today
is called Fortanina or Fortanella, characterized
by smaller berries and much darker skins,
richer in polyphenols. Roberto Miravalle, viti-
culturalist of the Corte Pallavicina estate, has
apparently planted both Fortana and Fortanella
in his vineyards and makes wines from both—
he is trying to determine the major differences
between the two wines, so I guess we just need
to wait and see.
Fortana is a rustic variety that behaves like
wild grapevines, and in this it resembles the
Lambrusco
s to an extent. This connection is
supported by analysis (Boccacci, Torello Mari-
noni, Gambino, Botta, and Schneider 2005) of
the genetic characterization of endangered
grape cultivars of the Reggio Emilia province,
with eight SSR microsatellite loci used to inves-
tigate possible parentage relationships, which
suggested a parent-offspring relationship
between Fortana and Lambrusco Maestri.
Unfortunately, the same authors advance the
notion that Fortana is identical to Canina Nera,
another native of Emilia-Romagna, and this is
most likely wrong (see CANINA NERA entry).
Romagna's best-known and respected ampelog-
rapher, Marisa Fontana, does not believe the
two varieties are at all synonymous. Both their
leaves and their berries are very different (For-
tana's berry is round, Canina Nera's oblong,
almost oval). Interestingly, in a presentation at
the fourth International Viticultural Congress
held on July 10-12, 2012, in Asti, Giancarlo
Scalabrelli of the University of Pisa presented
data relative to rare grape varieties in the Col-
line Pisane, in which he mentions the existence
of local varieties called Canina Nera, Oliva, and
wines to try:
Bulfon** (though some recent
versions have been marked by excessive resid-
ual sugar) and Ronco Cliona**.
Fortana
where it's found:
Emilia-Romagna.
national
registry code number:
84.
color:
red.
In the 1980s, there was a perceptible dimi-
nution in popularity of Fortana and many other
native varieties as more fashionable cultivars
took hold everywhere in Italy. The ensuing glut
of extremely mediocre Chardonnay and Caber-
net Sauvignon wines has thankfully dried up
since then, and varieties such as Fortana are
jumping back onto the stage, and onto dining
tables. And deservedly, since Fortana always
enjoyed good press and its wines have been met
with considerable favor through the ages.
Up until the twentieth century, Fortana was
known as Uva d'Oro (“golden grape”). Both
this name and another commonly used syno-
nym, Fruttana (“plenty of fruit” or “very
fruity”) refer to Fortana's copious yields, some-
thing that, understandably, was always much
appreciated by farmers who had to survive with
what their fi elds produced. Another theory is
that Uva d'Oro refers to the variety's origin in
Burgundy's Côte d'Or, though there is no hard
evidence of this. Fortana's cultivation was docu-
