Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Agostino Gallo later ([1595] 1937) wrote of Treb-
biane Bianche varieties, which he suggested
blending with Vernaccie Nere to make the best
wines. Alessandro Peccana (1627) also men-
tioned a “Trebiano,” while Francesco Dalla
Negra (1811) wrote that in the western half of
the Vicenza area, Turbiana was considered the
best of the “delicate” grape varieties (in those
times, “delicate” was the greatest of compli-
ments, a sign of refi nement); when blended
with Marzemina Bianca and Garganega, he
said, Turbiana was the basis for a great local
wine. Of course, this being Italy, it won't sur-
prise you that the wine was improperly called
Piccolit, a completely different grape and wine,
typical of Friuli Venezia Giulia. Nevertheless, a
Torbiana or Turbiana and a Trebbiano di Soave
have been documented in Veneto by numerous
other authors well into the twentieth century.
These two grapes were believed to be identical
and had many synonyms, including Trebbiano
di Lugana, Trebbiano di Lonigo, Trebbiano
Veronese, Trebbiano Verde, Turbiano, and Tur-
viana. Finally, on the basis of Molon's (1906)
distinction between Trebbiano Toscano and
Trebbiano di Soave, confi rmed by Cosmo and
Polsinelli (1965), Trebbiano di Soave was
included in the National Registry as a separate
variety in 1970.
However, many expert observers had always
thought that Verdicchio of the Marche and Treb-
biano di Soave had a great deal in common. In
1991, on the basis of ampelographic descrip-
tions and enzyme analysis, Calò, Costacurta,
Cancellier, and Forti demonstrated that Trebbi-
ano di Soave is identical to Verdicchio, leading
to Trebbiano di Soave being identifi ed as Verdic-
chio in the National Registry though curiously
the two maintain separate headings and their
original descriptions (by Bruni 1962 for Verdic-
chio, and by Cosmo and Polsinelli 1965 for Treb-
biano di Soave). These early results were con-
fi rmed ten years later with DNA profi ling by
Labra, Winfi eld, Ghiani, Grassi, Sala, Scienza,
and Failla (2001). Subsequently, Vantini, Tac-
coni, Gastaldelli, Govoni, Tosi, Malacrinò, Bassi,
and Cattivelli (2003) performed DNA profi ling
not just on Verdicchio and Trebbiano di Soave
but also on Trebbiano di Lugana. They studied
ten SSR microsatellite loci and confi rmed the
shared identity between Verdicchio and Trebbi-
ano di Soave (the varieties have identical alleles
at all ten loci; the likelihood of that happening
and the two varieties
not
being the same is one
in eight billion). But the researchers also found
an abnormal allele of fi ve hundred nucleotide
bases in the VVMD36 locus that allows genetic
differentiation between Trebbiano di Soave and
Trebbiano di Lugana, which on the basis of
these results are probably more correctly viewed
as biotypes. Apparently, Ghidoni, Emanuelli,
Moreira, Imazio, Grando, and Scienza (2008)
confi rmed the synonymity between Verdicchio
and Trebbiano di Lugana and established a new
one between Verdicchio and Trebbiano Valte-
nesi. A close relationship between Verdicchio
and Maceratino has been suggested by Filipetti,
Silvestroni, Thomas, and Intrieri (2001), and Di
Vecchi Staraz, Bandinelli, Boselli, This, Bour-
siquot, Laucou, Lacombe, and Varès (2007) have
described a pink-berried Verdicchio that is
related to Mammolo (I think it is unlikely to be
the real Verdicchio, as I am completely unaware
of any Verdicchio color mutations). Clearly, fur-
ther studies are needed.
The fact that Verdicchio is prevalent in the
Venetian countryside, under the name Trebbi-
ano di Soave, has led some experts to hypothe-
size that Verdicchio originates from Veneto and
not from the Marche, which is the region the
modern-day wine is largely associated with.
This is not unlikely, since Venetians were
famous traders and merchants responsible for
the popularization of many grape varieties all
over Italy (and Europe, witness the many differ-
ent
Malvasia
varieties). Furthermore, docu-
mentation shows that previously plague-
affected areas of the Marche were repopulated
(at the end of the fi fteenth century) by farmers
from Veneto, who brought animals and plants
with them. This is how Verdicchio is believed
to have arrived in the Marche. It is also particu-
larly noteworthy that molecular analysis has
shown that genetic variability is less in Verdic-
