Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
making are economically important in this area
as well, with 638 hectares under vine. The tal-
ented Elisa Semino, who runs La Colombera
estate with her father and did her enology
school thesis on this variety, points out that
there are still some centenary, ungrafted vines
to be found, especially in the higher part of the
Val Curone.
The wine is crisp, high acid, and very min-
eral; it will remind you of a very dry riesling,
with less sweet fruit when it is about fi ve years
old or more. Before that, it has aromas and fl a-
vors of white fl owers, unripe white stone fruit,
and bright citrus. High acidity and good aro-
matic persistence are typical, though some pro-
ducers have been trying to create creamier
versions.
few old and forgotten vineyards in the province
of Campobasso. The wine actually had great
success at the dawn of the twentieth century: a
wine from Molise made with Tintilia won gold
at the Paris Wine Exhibition of 1900.
Where exactly Tintilia comes from, or
whether it's a true native, has been discussed at
length for some time. Some experts believed it
was brought to Molise from Spain by viticultur-
alist Raffaele Pepe in 1810, others that it was
identical to Sardinia's Bovale Grande variety.
Still others believed Tintilia to be the anciently
described Campanian grape called Tintiglia
Nera that has since disappeared from its origi-
nal home in Irpinia. The word
tintiglia
(or
tin-
tilia
) could easily derive from the Spanish
tinto,
meaning red (in Italian, calling something
tinto
means it's colored). In any case, joint
credit must go to the politicians of Molise and
to the University of Molise, who ten years ago
decided together that genetic studies of a local
grape, not found much anywhere else, were
warranted. Recent research results have helped
clarify that Tintilia is very much its own grape.
Reale, Pilla, and Angiolillo (2006) analyzed
thirteen SSR loci to screen a collection of
Vitis
vinifera
cultivars named Tintilia harvested both
in southern Italy and in Spain. The thirty-seven
accessions were analyzed and showed a perfect
genetic match between those named Tintilia
from Molise (which differed from Tintilia from
other Italian regions) and from Spain. Nieddu
(2011) has recently reported similar results in a
topic on Sardinian grape varieties.
Another word of thanks must go to producer
Claudio Cipressi, of the estate Cantine Cipresso,
who in 1995 set out to recuperate old vines of
Tintilia with the aim of once again making a
wine with this variety. Cipressi knew his grand-
parents had always made a tintilia for local con-
sumption but couldn't fi nd a single bottle any-
where. Therefore, he selected and propagated
old vines, recognized courtesy of old local farm-
ers, and planted a seven-hectare vineyard.
His winemaker, Goffredo Agostini is learning
on the job, for practically nobody knows any-
thing about the variety. “It certainly has a very
wines to try:
Massa*** (Sterpi and Coste del
Vento; the latter more mineral and less creamy),
La Colombera*** (Il Montino and Derthona),
Mutti*** (Derthona Castagnoli), Claudio Mari-
otto (Pitasso and Derthona)**, Carlo Daniele
Ricci** (San Leto, from late-harvested grapes),
Maurizio Bruno**, Boveri Luigi** (Filari di
Timorasso), and Clemente Mogni**.
Tintilia
where it's found:
Molise.
national regis-
try code number:
372.
color:
red.
Tintilia (or Tintiglia; but Tintilia is the offi -
cial name and spelling) is an important native
variety typical of Molise, the little region often
lumped in with Abruzzo (as in Abruzzo and
Molise, rarely Molise on its own). Quality wine-
making has long been nearly nonexistent in the
region, and even the better-known wineries
have relied on famous consulting winemakers.
Time is needed to understand a local variety or
to create an identity for a winery, but given
Tintilia's recent success, Molise has something
to look forward to. Part of the problem is that
Tintilia was never a favorite of farmers: though
rustic and hardy, it yields very few grapes per
bunch, and so more productive varieties were
preferred. Thus, the cultivar survived only in a
