Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
First mentioned in 1826 when it was sup-
posedly a common variety planted around Bres-
cia, an affl uent northern Italian town known as
the “Lioness of Italy,” Invernenga is also known
as Invernesca, Brunesta, Bernestia, and Per-
gola. Its main name derives from the century-
old habit of letting the grapes air-dry and then
enjoying them as table grapes or raisins (hence
Invernenga, in reference to winter, or
inverno
).
Another synonym, Imbrunesta, refers to the
variety's late harvest season, when fog (from
nebbia
or
bruma
) are common among the vines.
It's not surprising therefore that locals also
used to make a highly thought of sweet wine
with this cultivar.
Invernenga's greatest claim to fame today is
that it is planted in Europe's biggest function-
ing urban vineyard, in the heart of Brescia. The
vineyard is located near via Pusterla, via Turati,
and via San Rocchino at the foot of the castle in
the middle of the city's downtown and at about
four hectares is much larger than, for example,
the Clos de Montmartre in Paris (which is only
1.556 square meters). The vineyard, which was
once even larger, is planted almost entirely to
the rare white, lightly aromatic Invernenga
variety, though there is also a variety of red
grapes, reportedly Marzemino, Uccellina, and
Corva plus unspecifi ed
Groppello
s and
Schia-
va
s, planted in its lowest section.
The vineyard has had a long and checkered
history. In the 1800s, it belonged to the Riccar-
di brothers, who won a number of awards for
their wines (for example, a gold medal at the
1904 Esposizione Bresciana). The winery and
vineyard were later inherited by the Capretti
family, and in 1940, Mario Capretti registered
the name “Pusterla” for his winery and vine-
yard (“Vigneto Pusterla”): Pusterla is the name
the wines have been known by until recently.
With the ownership change, the wines proved
none the worse for wear: the estate won a gold
and two bronze medals at the 1953 Concorso
Enologico dell'Italia Settentrionale and another
of the estate's wines won a gold medal at the
1966 Concorso Enologico di Asti. All this indi-
cates that Invernenga is capable of producing a
wine that will win accolades. With Mario
Capretti's death the winery and vineyard fell on
very hard times and it was only in 1996, with
the advent of Pierluigi Villa and Piero Bonomi,
who agreed to rent the vineyard, that the
Pusterla vineyard's wine was reborn. Villa, a
viticulturalist from the University of Milan,
and Piero Bonomi, a winemaker of the Bel-
lavista estate, also changed the vineyard's name
to Ronco Capretti. In 2011, the rental agree-
ment expired and the vineyard returned to the
control of the Capretti family.
Invernenga is characterized by medium to
medium-large bunches and berries; the latter
are round and have little bloom. Budbreak
occurs early, and the grapes usually ripen in
September. Two different clones became avail-
able in 1999, MI-BRIXIA 98-313 and MI-
BRIXIA 98-377.
Though the single-biggest Invernenga vine-
yard is in downtown Brescia, I have been told
the grape is also planted sporadically in the
countryside surrounding the city.
Which Wines to Choose and Why
It's not easy fi nding an Invernenga wine to try.
The IGT wine to look for is Ronchi di Brescia
Bianco, but Invernenga can also be included in
the IGT Sebino blend. I recall that the 2006
Ronchi di Brescia Bianco by the Pusterla estate
was bottled in a pretty Rhine-style bottle with a
white label and that the wine was a delicate
yellow-green in hue, with aromas of honey and
apples and a noticeable almond fl avor with a
fl oral-spicy edge at the back. It was also fairly
saline. I once also tried a 2007, the most recent
vintage I have seen, but I don't have any spe-
cifi c recollections of it. If I have ever had the red
wine, I don't remember it at all.
wines to try:
Pusterla* (Ronchi Bianco).
Lacrima
where it's found:
Marche, Emilia-Romagna,
Tu sc a ny, P u g l i a .
national registry code
number:
111.
color:
red.
