Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Giacchè grows in central Italy in sporadic
plots of vines and is probably most abundant in
Lazio.
tional rather than native grape of Italy, probably
a Spanish import, arriving on Sardinian shores
during Spain's domination of the island. That
explains the grape's many Spanish-related syn-
onyms, such as Girone (or Zirone) di Spagna,
though in the Sardinian dialect it is referred to
as Nieddu Alzu or Aghina Bar-ja. Interestingly,
at the end of the eighteenth century, Manca
dell'Arca wrote of three different Girò varieties
grown around Sassari: Zirone (round berried,
early ripening), Zirone di Spagna (larger ber-
ries), and Zirone Barzu (similar to another vari-
ety, Negro, but less dark). Whether these three
were in fact all Girò biotypes or different grapes
altogether is unknown, but it is noteworthy that
later documents also distinguished at least two
Girò grapes, Girone and Girone di Spagna.
According to recent DNA analysis, Girò may be
one of the two parents of Albaranzeuli Bianco, a
rare Sardinian variety (Cipriani, Spadotto, Jur-
man, Di Gaspero, Crespan, Meneghetti, et al.
2010). A comparison of the data obtained by De
Mattia, Imazio, Grassi, Lovicu, Tardaguila,
Failla, et al. (2007) and Ibañez, Andres, Molino,
and Borrego (2003) also shows that Girò and
Girò Blanco (a white-berried variety from
Spain) are distinct, and not color mutations of
the same grape. In fact, many colored versions
of Girò have been described on Sardinia as well:
Girò Nigro (or Arzu, in dialect), Girò Rosso
(generally used as a synonym of Girone di
Spagna), Girò Chiaro (or Braghiu), and Girò
Bianco. In Nieddu (2011), Girò grapevines were
genetically profi led at twelve SSR loci and appar-
ently shown to be similar but not identical to
Girone di Spagna (also called Zirone Alzu),
which must be considered a biotype of Girò and
not a different variety. In a very interesting
recent study in which 196 different Sardinian
grapevines were analyzed at six SSR markers,
four different Girò varieties were identifi ed: one
called Girò Morbido from the island's Sarcidana
area, and three genetically different varieties all
called Girò, respectively from the island's Cam-
pidano di Sanluri, Campidano di Cagliari, and
Planargia areas (Lovicu, Farci, Sedda, Labra, De
Mattia, Grassi, Bacchetta, and Orrù 2010).
Which Wines to Choose and Why
Recently, with interest in all things local and
native perking up, estates have taken to produc-
ing a monovarietal wine with Giacchè, in both
dry and sweet versions. The Lazio Casale Cento
Corvi estate is the best-known producer. The
Collacciani family selected and propagated old
Giacchè vines they found in the countryside
around Cerveteri in northwestern Lazio and cre-
ated a line-up of very interesting varietal wines.
Dry wines are fully saturated, deep purple in
color, with aromas and somewhat chunky fl a-
vors of prunes, cocoa, and herbs, and they almost
always have a weedy, fl oral edge. In my opinion,
the weedy, vegetal streak is common to many
Colorino
and
teinturier
varieties in general, and
not just because they all have trouble ripening
fully. On a positive side, Giacchè wines offer real
structure but relatively smooth tannins, and
many wine lovers looking for something novel
to try will love the mouthcoating texture these
wines offer. The air-dried version, which I pre-
fer, made from grapes left on the vine but with
the stalks severed or twisted, is also rich and
intense, with heady aromas and fl avors of choco-
late syrup, roasted coffee beans, dried aromatic
herbs, and red cherries macerated in alcohol.
Compared to the dry version, I fi nd it offers
greater depth and complexity of fl avor.
wines to try:
Casale Cento Corvi** (Giacchè,
a dry red, and Passito).
Girò
where it's found:
Sardinia.
national regis-
try code number:
93.
color:
red.
Girò is unique in the panorama of Sardinian
enologic offerings, and Italy's overall, for that
matter. The cultivar and wine have almost the
same name (the wines indicate place, for exam-
ple, noting “di Sardegna”), and like many other
Sardinian varieties, Girò is most likely a tradi-
