Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Torbato is very much a one-region, one-area,
and one-estate grape and wine. It has always
been associated only with Sardinia and the Sella
& Mosca estate and has been known for fresh,
light, simple white wines. Also known as Turbat,
Razola, Cuscosedda, Trobadu, and Vitis Iberica
in the past, it has been grown since ancient
times in the area of Alghero. Genetic analysis at
twelve SSR loci has demonstrated a relationship
to the Portuguese variety Arinto: the two share
seventeen alleles in eleven of the twelve loci
examined (Nieddu 2011). Also, Lacombe, Bour-
siquote, Laucou, Dechesne, Varès and This
(2007) relate Torbato to the French Malvoisie de
Roussillon, now rare in France too.
Viticulturally, Torbato is a diffi cult variety to
work with because it is a late ripener, its berries
have thin skins, it tends not to accumulate
much sugar when yields are allowed to run too
high, and it's easy prey to viruses. It's also a
low-acid variety. There are an estimated 135
hectares planted to Torbato, especially in the
countryside around Alghero, in northwestern
Sardinia (based on 2010 data), though there are
some vines in the countryside around Sassari
as well. It likes dry, warm weather and calcare-
ous-clay soils, though it gives its best results on
the
terre bianche,
chalk-rich soils of marine ori-
gin found in and around Alghero.
premium Cuvée 161 is the most important wine
made by the estate).
Trebbianos
See
TREBBIANO
GROUP
, chapter 3.
Turca
where it's found:
Veneto, Trentino.
national
registry code number:
246.
color:
red.
Turca is a rare variety grown only in Veneto
and Trentino, mainly around the hamlet of
Arsiè, west of Feltre near Belluno and in the
Valsugana. It was once much more prevalent
than it is today; at the end of the 1800s there
were roughly two thousand hectoliters of Turca
wine produced annually. Apparently, a nursery
worker planted it in 1920 in Trento, and fi nding
the wine to his liking, propagated some of the
cuttings in his home province of Belluno.
Afterward, it was the owner of a wine-distribu-
tion company who kept nurturing Turca wines,
of which he was a great fan. Giordano Emo
Capodilista tells me that the variety was also
present in the countryside around Padova
in centuries past and that frescoes in his
sixteenth-century villa depict the Turca variety;
he also wants to give credit for the recent rebirth
of the variety in Veneto to a Signore Girardi,
who used to work for Proposta Vini; apparently
it was he who selected vines in the Vallagarina
of Trentino and brought them back to Veneto.
The name Turca refers not to Turkey but to
a word in the Trentino dialect meaning hard or
heavy, which are also characteristics of the
wine made with Turca (it is a dark wine, and
while not too tannic, its naturally high acidity
makes it seem more tannic than it really is).
This cultivar is not to be confused with
Puglia's similarly named Turca, which is a
table grape, or with Veneto's Turchetta, a very
high-quality but also nearly extinct grape that
is being studied and groomed for a return to
its winemaking destiny. It has been written
that Turca is identical to Douce Noire, which is
possible given the intense traffi c of grapevines
Which Wines to Choose and Why
The variety is used to make the DOC wine
Alghero Torbato, of which there is a sparkling
version as well, but often, acidifi cation is neces-
sary because the pH of Torbato musts tends to
run high (3.8-4). It has always been associated
with the house of Sella and Mosca, who basi-
cally make all of Italy's Torbato, with decent to
sometimes excellent results. The wine is light
and fresh, with very delicate aromas of yellow
plums and pear and hints of thyme and pista-
chio nuts. One needs to pay attention when sip-
ping, though, or torbato's rather delicate
charms might pass you by.
wines to try:
Sella & Mosca**** (Terre
Bianche is the best version, though the super
