Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
white wines. Minutolo wines are more reminis-
cent of those made with Moscato Bianco, rather
than Moscato di Alessandria, as they are fresh
and light bodied like the former, with white
fl ower, ginger, and yellow fruit aromas and fl a-
vors. They never have the oily richness or body
of wines made with Moscato di Alessandria.
Not knowing this puts wine lovers at risk of
drinking just about anything poured that's said
to be Minutolo, a currently hot commodity.
Honestly, you may want to exercise caution: too
many wildly different wines sport the name
Minutolo on the label (some of which bear no
resemblance to what Minutolo wine should
taste like), and said differences are too marked
for my taste. True, wines may differ on the
basis of clones used. Apparently the B7 clone
gives wines that have intensely ripe apricot and
peach aromas, while clone B11 wines have
stronger herbal accents and acidity. For these
reasons, the fi rst may be used to produce air-
dried wines, while the second may have a future
in sparkling wine production, should any pro-
ducer be so inclined. Any Minutolo wine cur-
rently made is dry. It makes an excellent aperi-
tif but matches well with shellfi sh, spicy fi sh
dishes, and simple pastas.
Molinara belongs to a high-yielding group of
formerly widespread varieties that have practi-
cally all disappeared in the Veneto-Adige geo-
graphical area, producing light-colored wines
greatly appreciated by consumers especially
north of the Alps. Alas, modern-day tastes
veered sharply away from that style of wine in
the last two decades of the twentieth century,
and so Molinara, but for a few tradition-respect-
ful and passionate producers, has almost joined
its relatives on the extinct list.
Molinara is a very pretty grape: its name
derives from
mulinara
or
mulino
(mill), where
bread was once made by milling fl our; since
Molinara's berries are covered in an especially
thick, powdery white bloom, they look dusted
with fl our. The grape is also called Rossanella
and Rossara in the Lake Garda zone (the latter
is an erroneous synonym, since there is a true
Rossara variety grown in Trentino) or Brepon
(especially in Valpantena) and Uva Salà (refer-
ring to the obvious saline quality of its wines).
The Serego Alighieri estate, owned by Count
Pieralvise Serego Alighieri, direct descendant
of Dante Alighieri, owns a biotype of Molinara
(named biotype Serego Alighieri) that is char-
acterized by a smaller and more compact
bunch. A monovarietal wine made with it is
very interesting and they used to sell it directly
at the estate. It's a slightly richer, spicier, high-
quality molinara, but paradoxically even lighter
in color than usual (hence called Molinara
Ciara, in the local dialect). The biotype has
been studied by Attilio Scienza of the Univer-
sity of Milan, who characterized it ampelologi-
cally; apparently it's more sensitive to botrytis
than regular Molinara.
There are different clones of Molinara avail-
able (R 2, ISV-CV 87, ISV-CV 100, ISV-CV 3,
VCR 12), but they do not seem to give high-
quality results. In general, Molinara has
medium-sized bunches and berries, the former
slightly pyramidal and the latter round-oval. It
is very sensitive to excessively humid condi-
tions and to potassium defi ciency, while it is
resistant to most diseases except grey rot. It
needs lots of space to grow (another factor lim-
wines to try:
I Pastini-Lino Carparelli***
(Rampone), Tenuta Chiaramonte* (Kimìa;
curiously, the 2012 was labeled only Fiano,
which is, with all due respect, unhelpful and
misleading), and Candido* (Tenuta Marino).
Carparelli has set up his own estate where he
now makes what are, in my view, Puglia's best
white wines.
Molinara
where it's found:
Veneto.
national regis-
try code number:
148.
color:
red.
Though well described and much appreci-
ated by Pollini in 1824 and Di Rovasenda in
1877, today Molinara risks being the forgotten
variety in Valpolicella and Amarone, where it
has always been grown and used to make the
world-famous wines named for those regions.
