Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Pascale
be easily blended into more important and well-
known wines, thereby increasing their produc-
tion volumes. However, Pampanuto wines tend
to oxidize and so they need to be consumed
quickly, which has soured some on it, leading to
a reduction in total hectares planted and conse-
quently the likelihood of fi nding monovarietal
wines made with the variety. This is a shame,
since it can produce a lovely, delicate white wine
that deserves more attention.
So, although monovarietal bottlings are
extremely rare (only local farmers might have
one for you to try), Pampanuto is still used in
blends with Bombino Bianco in the excellent
DOC Castel del Monte wines and other IGT
wines including Daunia, Murgia, Puglia, and
Valle d'Itria. Pampanuto has always been
known to give light, delicate wines that don't
age well (perhaps too delicate, in times when
most consumers longed for big, rich white
wines). Pre-fermentative techniques may
increase the wine's texture, depth of aromas
and f lavors, and ageworthiness (Chieppa,
Lovino, Savino, Limosani, Suriano, Ceci, and
Scazzariello 2008). Juice hyperoxygenation,
cold soaking (or maceration), and crushed-
grape enzymatic treatment processing tech-
niques were applied to Pampanuto grapes that
were also treated with traditional vinifi cation
techniques (the experimental control). The
most promising results were obtained by cold
maceration and juice hyperoxygenation, with
wines sporting deeper colors and greater tex-
ture due to higher polyphenol concentrations.
Interestingly, while wines made with hyperoxy-
genation were characterized by herbal aromas
and fl avors (sage and basil, with green apple
notes), wine made via cold soaking of the
grapes was marked by ripe tropical-fruit fl avors
(mango, banana, guava).
where it's found:
Sardinia.
national regis-
try code number:
180.
color:
red.
If Rubens had painted grapes rather than
people, Pascale might have been a model to his
liking. Opulent, excessive, with big fat round
berries that make you hungry just looking at
them, Pascale is one healthy-looking grape—
though with bunches that can reach one kilo-
gram in weight, perhaps it ought to see the
grape cardiologist. That said, Alessandro Det-
tori of the famous Dettori estate points out that
there are two biotypes of Pascale found on the
island, one with large grapes and berries (the
one producing the almost-one-kilogram
bunches) and a second that has small bunches
and small berries.
Though Pascale is an excellent table grape,
today we know that wine made with it is better
than what was believed possible centuries ago.
We still don't know what the grape was named
for or where it came from. Some experts main-
tain that it is yet another Sardinian variety of
Spanish provenance, but I have found no hard
evidence of this. First mentioned by Manca
dell'Arca (1780), and also called Santu Pascali
and Pascansalò, Pascale has been likened by
past experts to Monica and Nieddu Mannu;
Bruni (1962) even mentioned synonyms such
as Giacomino, the name of a local Tuscan vari-
ety (which resembled the better-known Tuscan
Bonamico), and Barberone, leading others to
hypothesize that all these grapes might be
related. The truth is, Pascale is not related to
Barbera, so the synonym of Barberone is best
avoided. De Mattia, Imazio, Grassi, Lovicu, Tar-
daguila, Failla, et al. (2007) showed Pascale to
be identical to Nieddu Mannu, Nieddu Pedra
Serra, Falso Gregu, Primitivo Nieddu, and oth-
ers still. By contrast, a more recent study featur-
ing genetic characterization at twelve SSR loci
has shown Pascale to be distinct from all the
major Sardinian varieties and to be a relative of
little-known locals such as Passale, Vertura,
and especially Gregu Nieddu (Nieddu 2011) but
apparently distinct from Nieddu Mannu.
wines to try:
Tenuta Cocevola/Maria
Marmo**, CRIFO** (both the dry and the
Lame di Sole; at 11 percent alcohol and roughly
5.3 grams per liter total acidity, these are the
ultimate uncomplicated aperitif wines), and
Santa Lucia.
