Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Palermo. Both these names, just like Nerello
Cappuccio, derive from the cultivar's appear-
ance, characterized by an opulent, bushy can-
opy that resembles a cowl or cap
(cappuccio)
and
that hides the grapes from view. It is much rarer
than its Etna soul mate Nerello Mascalese, with
which it is usually blended: though Nerello
Cappuccio can be used to make an interesting
wine on its own, it is generally viewed as lack-
ing the tannins necessary to stand alone. How-
ever, it provides color and softens acidity, the
main reasons why it's blended into weakly hued
and more acidic wines made with Nerello Mas-
calese. The high concentrations of malvin and
acylated anthocyanins (which are less subject to
oxidation) means the deep hue of Nerello Cap-
puccio wines will last longer. I believe Nerello
Cappuccio should be allowed to fl y solo more
often: over the years, I have tasted many fi ne
wines made of mainly if not all Cappuccio, and
though they undoubtedly shared a certain light-
ness of being and a rustic quality, they were
pleasant and refreshing.
Another controversial aspect of this variety is
its synonymity with Nerello Mantellato (or Man-
tiddatu Niur, in local dialect), which the major-
ity of experts believe to be identical to Nerello
Cappuccio. Salvo Foti, who used to be the wine-
maker at the Benanti estate and knows Etna
varieties like nobody else, believes they are. But
Marc de Grazia, the famous American importer
of Italian wines and now owner of the high-
quality Tenuta delle Terre Nere estate on Etna,
believes otherwise: “Despite what some ampelo-
graphic studies have documented, the two vines
look different and the wines also taste different.”
To prove his point, in 2011 he separately vinifi ed
lots of Nerello Cappuccio, Nerello Mascalese,
and what he believes to be Nerello Mantellato.
These discordant views have been common over
the decades. Di Rovasenda (1877) believed these
two
Nerello
s to be identical (and identical to
Nerello di Sant'Antonio, a variety practically
nobody seems to know anything about, and I've
asked); but Mazzei and Zappalà (1964) as well
as Cavazza (1914) disagree. Clearly, the jury will
be out until genetic testing is performed on the
vines perceived to be Mantellato, but it's fun to
try a wine supposedly made from a different
variety. In fairness, Foti also points out that “in
western Sicily, much as in Calabria, Nerello Cap-
puccio is a name attributed to many other red
varieties, even Sangiovese.”
In this respect, a recent study on the geno-
typic and phenotypic characterization of
Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio is
enlightening (Branzanti, Brancadoro, Scienza,
Fichera, and Raiti 2010). Of 156 accessions (115
of Nerello Mascalese and 41 of Nerello Cappuc-
cio) from eastern Sicily evaluated for both phe-
notypic and genotypic variability, false synony-
mies were rampant. The results were of the
utmost interest, for the study showed that 70
percent of the accessions initially reported to be
Nerello Cappuccio were in fact Carignano, and
another 10 percent were a mix of Sangiovese
and Ciliegiolo. Therefore, only the remaining
20 percent were truly Nerello Cappuccio, and
among these grapevines many phenotypes
were found, and fi ve distinct varieties. So not
only is Nerello Cappuccio less common than
previously thought, there are plenty of biotypes
and the grape is interplanted with other as yet
unknown grape varieties all of which have been
given the same name.
In this light, and to my way of thinking, the
discovery of different varieties in vineyards
believed to be of Nerello Cappuccio makes the
existence of Nerello Mantellato all the more
likely. Clearly, the grape varieties in the Bran-
zanti study looked like each other, or were
“cowled,” and so the likelihood of Mantellato
existing seems to make sense. Of note, the
forty-one reported Nerello Cappuccio vines
were sourced from fourteen different town-
ships around Etna, making the likelihood of
truly gross errors in fi eld cultivar recognitions
less likely—this is the only part of Sicily in
which Nerello Cappuccio thrives, so people
ought to recognize it. However, if the varieties
planted had been misnamed from the start,
then locals might believe them to be Nerello
Cappuccio even though they are not. I wonder
if this isn't what has happened to Nerello
