Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
then the wine picks up unpleasant off odors.
Racking and air contact are all-important with
Pelaverga.” It's an interesting problem, for
Pelaverga Grosso is blessed with thick skins
that can stand up to inclement weather: “True,
so I'm not sure why we have this problem. I
remember my grandfather always used to say
that if it rains one day during the harvest it
wasn't a big deal,” says Occelli.
believed enough in the variety to attempt
monovarietal bottlings rather than blends with
Barbera or Nebbiolo, as was customary. Since
the 1980s, the small production of Pelaverga
wines has met with both critical and consumer
acclaim. Consequently, the only three hectares
planted to Pelaverga Piccolo in 1987 have
increased to the twelve of today, a fourfold
increase. This success has led some producers
to experiment further with the variety; Castello
di Verduno has started production of a white
wine from Pelaverga Piccolo grapes by remov-
ing the must off the skins immediately. Only
time will tell if other producers will follow suit,
though I fi nd the red so good, why make a
white wine with this grape?
The name Pelaverga derives from the com-
bination of
pela
and
verga,
which mean, respec-
tively, “to peel” and “branch,” so it is thought
that
pelaverga
refers to some old vine-training
technique (“branch-peeler”).
wines to try:
Produttori Pelaverga di Castel-
lar** (Petalo, their excellent
rosato;
also a very
good red Pelaverga), Casetta*, Maiero*, and
Terre dei Santi* (Cari).
Pelaverga Piccolo
where it's found:
Piedmont.
national reg-
istry code number:
330.
color:
red.
A sign of the diffi culties facing Italian
native grapes, or anyone wanting to learn about
them, is that even bona fi de experts have trou-
ble knowing all the rare natives the country
boasts. For example, in topics on Italy's wines,
the two Pelaverga varieties are often not men-
tioned, which is not surprising given that until
recently making wines with these varieties was
mainly a local phenomenon. Unlike Pelaverga
Grosso, which is still very much a grape and
wine of only local importance, Pelaverga Pic-
colo is becoming better known, at least in Ital-
ian wine circles. The variety known as Pelaverga
Piccolo is also called Pelaverga di Verduno, as
it's grown almost exclusively around the town
of Verduno, more famous for its Barolo produc-
tion. Legend has it that Piccolo was brought to
the area from Saluzzo by a friar, Sebastiano
Valfré, in the eighteenth century. It's not with-
out interest that Valfré hailed from that area,
home to Pelaverga Grosso. The two
Pelaverga
s
are actually completely unrelated, but locals
historically had no way of knowing this: it's not
illogical that they assumed the good friar was
importing the
Pelaverga
variety from his neck
of the woods.
Verduno Pelaverga makes an excellent wine,
and credit goes to the local producers who
Which Wines to Choose and Why
Pelaverga Piccolo is found only in Piedmont, in
the DOC Verduno Pelaverga, mainly around
the towns of Verduno and Roddi. A good Pela-
verga Piccolo wine is bright red, with small red-
berry and herbal aromas and fl avors. The red-
berry notes border on syrup in hotter years, but
the wine is always blessed with fi ne acidity, so
never causes palate fatigue. The best wines are
remarkably balanced midweights that offer
completely different aromas and fl avors than
do wines made with Barbera or Dolcetto. In
fact, a Pelaverga Piccolo wine is not unlike a
good Schiava, and like that variety, it is charac-
terized by a lack of strong tannins. Pelaverga
Piccolo is remarkably versatile; excellent spar-
kling and both light- and full-bodied red wines
are possible. The only diffi culties in production
are the wine's tendency to form reductive off
odors and the necessity of leaching out as much
color from the skins without also releasing bit-
ter tannins.
wines to try:
Castello di Verduno*** (Basa-
done), Fratelli Alessandria***, G. B. Bur-
