Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
is all about. The variety hardly gives the impres-
sion it could deliver anything liquid worth
remembering. Its big, Rubenesque bunch, with
one or two large wings and similarly large,
round berries is not the prototype of the quality
grape variety, as modern thinking is that qual-
ity wine grapes have small bunches and ber-
ries. Fortunately, Schioppettino manages to
prove everybody wrong, as long as the grower
and winemaker are equipped with patience.
Schioppettino is not particularly resistant, and
in rainy, cold springs it suffers from extreme
millerandage
and fl oral anomalies, so yields are
anything but dependable or copious. It has
fragile stems and is susceptible to peronospora.
It's also a late ripener, something that does not
sit well with most farmers in Friuli Venezia
Giulia, where cool and rainy autumns are the
norm, not the exception. Two clones are availa-
ble, VCR 412 and ERSA-FVG 430.
Now grown all over Friuli Venezia Giulia
but nowhere else in Italy, Schioppettino is most
common in the Colli Orientali del Friuli, where
more than 90 percent of the vines are located,
mainly near Cividale. Although it has almost
completely disappeared in Slovenia, Schioppet-
tino has found admirers outside Italy. In Cali-
fornia it has been planted in AVAs such as
Sonoma County, with examples by the
Holdredge MacBryde vineyard.
in the way of fog and stagnant humidity, both
potentially devastating to a variety like Schiop-
pettino, which in 1867 Levi characterized as
“delicate” (Calò and Costacurta 1991). The
warmer days and frankly cold nights also guar-
antee those day-night temperature variations
that allow for aromatic compound precursor
buildup and potentially more fragrant wines.
Wines made here are usually slightly bigger
bodied and richer than those of Cialla, which
due to its shady and cool microclimate allows
for a unique interpretation of Schioppettino
wines, blessed with high natural acidity, usu-
ally excellent balance, and a one-of-a-kind
refi ned mouthfeel. Think Margaux, compared
to Albana-Prepotto's Saint-Julien. Centa, which
is characterized by red-clay soil rich in iron,
would produce wines a bit more like Saint-
Estephe. Recognizing the various
terroirs
avail-
able is important, for Schioppettino is uniquely
sensitive to site, and in areas of lesser quality it
can fail to ripen properly. When optimal ripe-
ness is not achieved, Schioppettino can show a
vegetal streak, leading some producers to par-
tially air-dry grapes, thereby producing cream-
ier, bigger wines. This is why the style of Schi-
oppettino runs the gamut, from velvety
Amarone-like behemoths to the refi ned, almost
meager wines of Cialla. Unfortunately, whether
the producer air-dries the grapes or not is rarely
indicated on the label. Hence you must get to
know what each producer likes to do with his or
her Schioppettino grapes, in order to know if
you'll like it too, or not.
I believe Schioppettino is bound for star-
dom, as it can give extremely elegant red wines
laced with black currant, black cherry, and
green peppercorns, with high acidity and
smooth tannins. As the wines age they pick up
complicating notes of underbrush and tar, but
they are especially characterized by a midweight
body, sound acidity, and especially that green-
peppercorn note. The variety's telltale aroma of
green peppercorn is due to high levels of rotun-
done, a concentration roughly thirty-fi ve times
the level needed for the olfactory mucosa to be
aware of its presence. You will have understood
Which Wines to Choose and Why
There are, in my view, two
grand cru
areas: one
is Prepotto and Albana, the other Cialla. In
recent years, outstanding Schioppettino wines
have also been made near Rosazzo and Pre-
mariacco, another good site for the variety. I
discuss Prepotto and Albana jointly here, but
there are noticeable differences between their
wines, partly due to soil differences (more
marly in Albana, slightly more alluvial in Pre-
potto). There is potentially another
grand cru,
that of Centa, but as no wines of note are being
produced there, it's hard to prove my point.
Prepotto and Albana are situated at the
mouth of the extremely narrow Judrio Valley,
which allows for excellent ventilation, with little
