Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Ucelut
from France directed toward northeastern
Italy in the eighteenth and nineteenth centu-
ries. Furthermore, it was believed that Pied-
mont's Dolcetto and Douce Noire were one
and the same (they are not), so a local grower
who wished to try planting the French grape-
vine that had been so successful in Piedmont
might well have planted Turca instead. (I can
just imagine the conversation between grape-
vine seller and potential buyer: “You must try
this variety here—you know, it's the same one
they use in Piedmont to make dolcetto . . .”).
In any case, I know of no peer-reviewed study
supporting the identity between Douce Noire
and Turca; until one exists, I will consider
Turca a separate variety, just as it is listed in
the National Registry.
where it's found:
FVG.
national registry
code number:
324.
color:
white.
Ucelut is a rare grape variety, but I fi nd the
wine made from it is one of rare potential great-
ness. Ucelut is another of the
uve uccelline
(bird
grapes), sweet grape varieties left to hang on
the vine late into the season and often eaten by
gluttonous birds. Not much historical informa-
tion is available on Ucelut, but we know the
variety was presented at the 1863 Udine Exhibi-
tion, and the following year cultivation was
started at the breeding center of the Stabili-
mento Agro-orticolo (Agricultural-Garden
Establishment), with vines selected in the
countryside around the villages of Ramuscello
and San Giovanni, supposedly the original pro-
duction areas for this wine. Ucelut is also
named in the
Vocabulary of the Friulian Lan-
guage,
written by Abbott Jacopo Pirona in 1871,
which would tend to mean that the variety was
thought to be indigenous to the region.
Ucelut appears to have been cultivated
throughout the Friuli Venezia Giulia in the
nineteenth century, and its wines were made in
both a dry and sweet style (especially the latter),
as the variety accumulates sugars very easily. It
was also believed to give the best results in hill-
side vineyards, per existing documents relating
to the Friulian Antiphylloxera Consortium fair
of 1921, where experts such as Francesco Anto-
nio Sannino and Giovanni Dalmasso were
among the speakers. The latter described Uce-
lut's cultivation zone at that time as limited to
the countryside around Valeriano, Castelnovo
del Friuli, and Pinzano, in the province of
Pordenone. Some have postulated that the vari-
ety is the result of the domestication of a native
wild grapevine, but there is no proof of this. In
Bulfon, Forti, and Zuliani's 1987 topic devoted
to the grape varieties of the Spilimbergo zone,
they report that in the nineteenth century Uce-
lut was very important for socioeconomic and
cultural reasons to the people of San Vito al
Tagliamento, Castelnovo del Friuli, and other
nearby towns in the Pordenone province.
Which Wines to Choose and Why
Turca may be found in IGT blends such as
Delle Venezie, Veneto, and Vigneti delle Dolo-
miti. Conte Emo Capodilista is heavily
involved in Turca cultivation and is now bot-
tling a table wine called simply Turca, which
is the only monovarietal Turca wine I know.
It's not the last word in complexity, but an
enjoyable wine and one that will match with
simply prepared pasta and meat dishes—
despite the
turca
name and it's supposed
meaning. Angelo Sabbadin, the sommelier at
Italy's three-Michelin-star Le Calandre restau-
rant, and to whom I owe a public thank-you for
informing me about this grape now being bot-
tled as a monovarietal wine for the fi rst time,
fi nds the wine interesting. He believes Turca
can add complexity to red-wine blends as well
as making a good wine on its own, “though
I'm not sure such a light-bodied, fresh wine
has much of a commercial future. Of course,
I'm hoping to be proven wrong.” Amen, wine-
loving brother.
wines to try:
Conte Emo Capodilista** (Turca;
deep ruby-purple, with grapey, plummy aro-
mas, complicated by ink and balsamic reduc-
tion, which turns lighter and high acid on the
medium-weight frame).
