Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
wine. When the grapes are picked unripe, or at
less than ideal physiological maturity, fumins
are always marred by an excessively green, veg-
etal, almost weedy streak.
but it is unclear what the exact grape variety
was.
Recent DNA studies (Cipriani, Spadotto, Jur-
man, Di Gaspero, Crespan, Meneghetti, et al.
2010) have clarifi ed that Gaglioppo is a natural
crossing of Sangiovese and Mantonico, the latter
a very typical grape of Calabria, also Gaglioppo's
home. This means that Gaglioppo and Frappato
are most likely siblings, which is not unlikely in
my view given the characteristics of the two
varieties and their wines. By contrast, I fi nd the
posited relationship with Aleatico (Filippetti,
Silvestroni, Thomas, and Intrieri 2001) impos-
sible, as I fi nd that neither grapes nor wines
have anything in common. For the same reason,
I cannot see Gaglioppo and Morellino Pizzuto
as identical varieties (Scalabrelli, D'Onofrio,
Ferroni, DeLorenzis, Giannetti, and Baldi
2008): I think it would be more correct to state
that the grapevines labeled as Morellino Pizzuto
in that study were in fact Gaglioppo but I do not
take this to mean that all Morellino Pizzuto
grapevines in Tuscany are in fact Gaglioppo.
They're simply too different. Gaglioppo has also
been proven distinct from a recently rediscov-
ered native, Galliopo delle Marche.
Gaglioppo has medium-large to large (470
grams on average), pyramidal-conical, compact
bunches and medium-large, oval berries. Mul-
tiple biotypes of Gaglioppo exist: Caparra
described a Gaglioppo Paesano and a Gagli-
oppo Napoletano in 1921, the latter the more
vigorous and larger bunched of the two. Sesto
and Rissone also described a Gaglioppo di
Cosenza in 1988 that had a completely different
anthocyanin profi le from Gaglioppo, but as
they did not provide a precise ampelographic
description, it is diffi cult to say if it is truly a
different Gaglioppo. Gaglioppo is also called
at times Magliocco, Magliocco Dolce, and
Magliocco Canino, but these names properly
refer to different varieties and so should never
be used for Gaglioppo. It is sensitive to most
common vine diseases, but shows good resist-
ance to frost, and a little less to drought.
Gaglioppo wines have historically been
plagued by reddish, orangey colors and the
wines to try:
Les Cretes*** (Vigne La Tour,
the most balanced wine of the lot, with fi ne tan-
nins and depth of fl avor), Elio Ottin**, Gros-
jean** (Vigne Rovettaz), IAR**, La Crotte de
Vegneron** (Esprit Follet), Lo Triolet** (always
a sure bet), Anselmet* (Fumin, a rather oaky
version from one of the region's best produc-
ers), Chateau Feuillet*, D&D*, Feudo di San
Maurizio** (another sure bet), La Vrille*, and
Les Granges*. Di Barrò makes a Fumin much
lauded by other critics, but I fi nd it usually too
ripe and soft in its aromas and fl avors.
Gaglioppo
where it's found:
Calabria, Campania, Mar-
che, Sicily.
national registry code number:
90.
color:
red.
Gaglioppo's name is derived from a Greek
word meaning “beautiful foot,” and in fact, ripe
grape bunches of Gaglioppo (also known as
Cirotana in the Bivongi area of Calabria) are
fl orid, plump, and very appealing. Unfortu-
nately, the wines made from it have long been a
different matter: its most famous wine, Cirò,
has rarely been a head turner, though due to its
low cost it has always sold well. But this lowly
variety actually appears to have very noble ori-
gins. It is one of Italy's oldest varieties: a wine
that some maintain was made with Gaglioppo,
called Krimisa, was the reward for winners of
the Olympic games. Krimisa took its name
from Cremissa, the ancient name for the city of
Cirò, one of three very important Greek cities
in what is now Calabria and famous in antiq-
uity for a temple devoted to wine. The appeal
and availability of this wine were also assisted
by Sibari, an important trading town with a
very busy port that played a role not unlike that
played by the port of Bordeaux in France. De
Bonis (2002) wrote of sales of a
galoppo
wine
between Sicily and Campania as early as 1239,
