Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
started working with it in the 1980s (thus all
the wine could be was a lowly
vino da tavola,
much like Sassicaia in its early days), she per-
sisted and completed all the bureaucratic paper-
work and met all the viticultural and enological
requirements so that the variety was offi cially
included in the National Registry in 2002.
One November evening, many years ago,
after a hard day's night of driving nonstop all
over the region, tasting Piedmontese reds in
cellars dotting the countryside, I suddenly
remembered to ask Maria what I'd always
wanted to and had managed to forget each
time: Why? Why does someone who has experi-
enced so much success with her many other
wines get involved in a new venture that took so
much time, money, and energy, with a wine
that is tough as nails and admittedly not going
to be a darling of the majority? Maria fl ashed
me her calm smile and said softly, “I like it; and
because in this way I leave memories.”
Uva Longanesi is one of Italy's most recently
discovered varieties, having come to prominence
only in 1933, when Aldo Longanesi noted a very
gnarly old vine in a fi eld on his property on via
Boncellino in Bagnacavallo, unlike any other he
had ever seen. In the 1950s, Longanesi decided
to try and make a wine from those grapes and
was pleasantly surprised by the result—so sur-
prised, that he decided to plant a whole vineyard
to the variety, though part of his intent was also
to use the intensely colored and alcoholic wine
made with Uva Longanesi to spike the other
estate wines made at that time, like the one
made with Fortana. Nowadays, the grape variety
is also called Burson, as this was the nickname
of the Longanesi family, to whom credit must be
given if we are able to talk about Uva Longanesi,
and taste the wines. Though Burson is also
included in the name of a local producers' asso-
ciation named Consorzio del Burson di Bagno-
cavallo, I stress that the offi cially recognized
name of the variety is Uva Longanesi.
Some experts have hypothesized a Spanish
origin for Uva Longanesi, but I have seen no
hard evidence of this; most believe the variety is
the result of the domestication of an ancient
wild species or perhaps a natural crossing
between a wild grapevine and a cultivated one.
Certainly, a look at the grapevine and a taste of
the wines lends credence to the ancient wild
grapevine theory. The bunch and berries are
medium-large; the bunch is conical-pyramidal,
and the berries round, with thick skins. There
is one clone available, Ampelos DGV 1
.
In any case, Uva Longanesi looks similar
but is different from Negretto, another rare
local red native variety that has recently come
under study. Uva Longanesi is grown over
roughly two hundred hectares, mainly around
Bagnocavallo, Cotignola, Fusignano, Godo,
Lugo, and Russi in the Romagna portion of
Emilia-Romagna, near the cities of Faenza and
Ravenna.
Which Wines to Choose and Why
Uvalino only grows in the Astigiano and mainly
around Costigliole d'Asti. The wine is a Mon-
ferrato Rosso, and the only producer of note
(and whose wine you are most likely to fi nd, as
they make about fi ve thousand bottles a year) is
Cascina Castlèt. In order for Uvalino to give
good results, the grapes have to be air-dried,
and at least thirty days are best. Without air-
drying it tends to have too light a color and the
tannins are really tough. The wine is normally
deeply hued, with aromas of sweet spices and
blackberries (though I wouldn't say the some-
what neutral nose is this wine's strong suit) and
an amazingly high-acid, tannic mouthfeel but
with enough bright, small dark-berry fruit so as
not to make the experience painful.
wines to try:
Cascina Castlèt** (Uceline).
Uva Longanesi
where it's found:
Emilia-Romagna.
national
registry code number:
357.
color:
red.
Which Wines to Choose and Why
Uva Longanesi can be used in different IGT
blends, including dell'Emilia, Forlì, Ravenna,
