Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Which Wines to Choose and Why
Montonico Bianco yields a high-acid fresh, fl o-
ral white wine, though monovarietal versions
are rare because it usually just gets blended into
other wines. Better examples I have tried are
also delicately spicy and fruity, with hints of
acacia fl owers, anise seed, and fresh herbs,
with a slightly tannic, astringent mouthfeel
and always plenty of refreshing acidity. It is fair
to say this wine is not the last word in palate
presence or textural richness, though I admire
its fragrance and easy-drinking charm. In my
opinion at least, it really tastes nothing like
wines made with Mantonico Bianco, which are
richer, more structured and tannic (Mantonico
Bianco strikes me as a rare tannic white grape,
while Montonico Bianco does not).
Apparently, Cantina Frentana used to make
a Montonico Bianco wine in its Costa del
Mulino lineup, but to the best of my knowledge
no longer produces it (it now makes a Cococci-
ola wine from the native cultivar of that name).
Though Robinson, Harding, and Vouillamoz
(2012) report in the Montonico Bianco entry
that Librandi's well-known Efeso bottling is
made with Montonico Bianco, they also write in
the Mantonico Bianco entry that the same wine
is made with Mantonico Bianco; clearly, the
wine is either made with one variety or the
other. I have always known Efeso to be made
with Mantonico Bianco (not the Montonico
Bianco typical of Abruzzo), a logical scenario
given the wealth of Mantonico Bianco in Cala-
bria. And they confi rm this at Librandi.
hue. Montoncello is another but rarer synonym
used in centuries past, when it was also
believed, erroneously, to be identical to Monto-
nico Bianco. Cavazza wrote in 1904 that the
Marchese Bevilacqua believed the variety's
name to derive from molt' ù in the local dialect,
meaning “plenty of grapes.” Cavazza himself
described a Montenego variety identical to
today's Montù, which might also have been
identical to the Montonego Bianco variety
described by Acerbi (1825).
Montù is recognizable by its long, cylindri-
cal, compact medium-sized bunches and
medium-small round, yellow-green berries cov-
ered in bloom and brown dots. It is disease
resistant overall (especially to oidium and less
so to botrytis bunch rot) and grows easily, rip-
ening in early October. It seems to grow best in
clay-calcareous soils. There is one offi cial clone
available, CAB 14. Interestingly, Filippetti and
Fontana (2006) hypothesize that Montù was
abandoned because it is much less productive
than most Trebbiano s. Though Montù is not a
household name, at six hundred hectares
planted in the province of Bologna alone and
about one thousand in Italy overall (2010 data),
the variety is more common than many realize.
In fact the cultivar does well even in fl atland
vineyards that are easily worked with cost-effec-
tive mechanical harvesters, so it's a native that's
not likely to disappear anytime soon. Though
typical of the Emilia portion of Emilia-Romagna
(especially the fl atlands along the Reno River,
north of Bologna up to Pieve di Cento), it was
once common in Romagna (where it is more
commonly called Bianchino); today it is hard to
fi nd past Ravenna. However, there are other
Bianchino grapes grown in Romagna, and they
are not all identical to Montù; there is most
likely a distinct Bianchino variety after all.
wines to try: La Quercia** (Santapupa) and
Cantine Torri* (both monovarietal wines).
Montù
where it's found: Emilia-Romagna. national
registry code number: 152. color: white.
Also known as Montuni, Montù has always
grown on the plains of Emilia-Romagna, where
it was also called Bianchino or Bianchetto,
because wines made from it had a very pale
Which Wines to Choose and Why
The best wines are usually found in the IGTs
Castelfranco dell'Emilia, Ravenna, Forlì, and
Rubicone and in the DOC Reno Montuni (a
minimum 85 percent Montù is required, but
monovarietal wines exist). The wine is high in
Search WWH ::




Custom Search