Major Native and Traditional Grape Varieties - Native Wine Grapes of Italy - page 404

Rossese

ese di Dolceacqua wine, which is produced only
using its eponymous cultivar. So, generic Ross-
ese wines are different from those sporting the
Dolceacqua moniker, and this not just because
of different terroirs but also because of different
cultivars used—yet another example of the
importance that grape varieties have always
played in Italy's winemaking.
It is unclear if Rossese di Dolceacqua is a
true Italian native or if it ought to be considered
a traditional variety. A recent study showed that
Rossese di Dolceacqua is genetically identical to
a French variety called Tibouren (Torello Mari-
noni, Raimondi, Ruffa, Lacombe, and Schnei-
der 2009). Regarding this identifi cation, it is
diffi cult to say whether Tibouren came to Ligu-
ria from Provence fi rst or if Rossese arrived in
France from Liguria. According to Ganzin
(1901), Tibouren was introduced into the Var
(southern France) in the late eighteenth cen-
tury by a navy captain named Antiboul (hence
the French synonym Antiboulen). That a
French variety might make its way into Italian
countrysides and vice versa was not that
uncommon; there are many examples of this
throughout the wine-production zones of both
countries, which share a long border. In Italy
some believe that the grapevine was brought to
western Liguria from France by soldiers of the
noble Ligurian Doria family, but as is often the
case with these historical reconstructions, con-
clusive evidence is hard to come by. Though I
have gone looking, I have been unable to fi nd
any convincing evidence of the variety being
called either Tibouren or Rossese fi rst, and so I
fail to see how anyone could decide that the cor-
rect name should be one or the other. Granted,
this is probably not the most important
dilemma facing mankind, but local growers are
fi ercely attached to their grapes and they'd like
to be sure matters have been carefully looked
into, and clearly resolved, before we “steal” a
variety away from them. I would humbly sub-
mit that we owe them no less.
Rossese di Dolceacqua has medium-large ,
truncated, conical, winged bunches with
medium to medium-small , round, almost oval

where it's found: Liguria. national regis-
try code number: 213. color: red.
Every time I look at a Rossese vineyard, I get
a neck ache. Clinging precipitously to moun-
tainsides plunging down to the marvelous
Ligurian sea below, in a fairytale world more
suited to chamois and alpine ibex than “I really
need to hit the gym” wine writers, Rossese
grapes bask in the sunshine while reminding
you of the amazing amount of hard work that
goes into every glass of wine. In Italy, the list of
native grapes that strongly mark the territory
they are grown in is almost endless, but few do
so to the extent of Rossese . There are no other
red varieties of similar relevance in its whole
production area, and so for locals Rossese is a
family member of sorts. Gianni Guglielmi, one
of the better producers of Rossese wines, recalls
that his ancestors have been growing Rossese
since at least the early 1800s, and that sort of
family tradition breeds fi erce loyalty toward
both the grape variety and wine.
Despite its limited cultivation area (a small
section of western Liguria, itself not exactly the
biggest of Italian regions), there are a number
of different Rossese s, the most famous being
Rossese di Dolceacqua (also the name of a
wine); another red-berried variety is Rossese di
Campochiesa, and the two are genetically dis-
tinct. There are also at least three completely
unrelated white-berried varieties also called
Rossese Bianco-Something. One of these, Ross-
ese Bianco di Arcola, is actually Ruzzese (see
RUZZESE entry). Of course, Rossese Bianco
seems something of an oxymoron (given that
rossese ought to refer to a red coloration), but as
these white-berried varieties were thought to be
color mutations of the dark-skinned cultivars, I
guess my snickering is out of line. The present
discussion is limited to the red-berried Ross-
ese s, and today most everyone grows the Dol-
ceacqua variety (or so they all tell you), because
Rossese di Campochiesa is viewed as of a lesser
quality (its cultivation is on the decline). Actu-
ally, the latter was never used to make the Ross-