Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
a role in many DOC wines such as the Colli
Berici, Colli Mantovani, Garda, Lugana, and
Recioto di Soave. As Trebbiano di Lugana (or
Turbiana), it is the main grape variety used to
make the DOC Lugana wines. In other regions,
Verdicchio can be included in wines as diverse
as the Castelli Romani, Colli Albani, Marino of
Lazio, and many more in other regions, but
these are never monovarietal and as such pro-
vide little understanding of what a native vari-
ety and its wine are all about.
Young Verdicchio wines are very fl oral and
delicately fruity; older wines have a distinct
fl intiness, even a note reminiscent of riesling,
carricante, or timorasso-like kerosene. This lat-
ter note is due to the aromatic molecule precur-
sors formed in carotene metabolic pathways;
the resulting concentration is correlated to the
amount of sunlight radiating onto the berries
in the early phases of the growth cycle (as a
general rule, the warmer and brighter the cli-
mate, the faster wines made with a few specifi c
varieties will develop hydrocarbon-like aromas
and fl avors). Both young and old Verdicchio
wines always exude a lovely, and very typical,
sweet almond note, which veers to marzipan in
richer, concentrated, aged examples of the
wine. Sweet wines are also made from Verdic-
chio, as it likes noble rot; unfortunately, even
though the high natural acidity guarantees
these sweet wines are never cloying, Verdicchio
is not an aromatic variety and so dessert wines
made with it are of limited interest compared
those delivered by Riesling or Moscato Bianco,
for example. Come to think of it, this is another
point that Verdicchio has in common with
Chardonnay, the sweet wines of which are
nothing to write home about (despite Austrians
trying their best). Instead, the better, and still
rare, examples of monovarietal wines made
from Trebbiano di Soave are fl oral and fresh,
lightly acidic, and delicate with hints of chloro-
phyll and unripe apricot. Trebbiano di Lugana
wines can be more full-bodied and richer, per-
haps due to the warmer microclimate of the
growing area. Some of the latter wines can be
somewhat overoaked, though.
wines to try:
For Verdicchio dei Castelli di
Jesi, try: Sartarelli*** (Balciana, a rare late-
harvest example and one of Italy's top-fi ve white
wines), Bucci*** (their Riserva is one of Italy's
top-ten white wines, and one of the few that can
improve with age; it's splendid even ten years
out), Garofoli*** (Podium, an amazing wine
that shows just how great unoaked verdicchio
can be), and Borgo delle Oche** (sometimes a
bit oaky). For Verdicchio di Matelica, try: La
Monacesca** (Mirum, their reserve wine) and
Collestefano*** (outstanding minerality and
depth, like a great dry Mosel Riesling). For
Trebbiano di Soave, try: Suavia*** (Massi Fitti).
For Lugana, try: Cà dei Frati*** (I Frati and
especially Brolettino, mercifully now less oaked
than in the past), Ottella** (Brut and Le Crete),
Zenato** (if you prefer an oaked version),
Fratelli Zeni, and Le Morette (owned by Valerio
Zenato ) . For Bianco Veronese IGT, t r y: Filippi* *
(Turbiana).
Verdiso
where it's found:
Veneto.
national regis-
try code number:
255.
color:
white.
Also known as Verdiga and Verdisot,
Verdiso is yet another of the many Italian grape
varieties named for the green hue of its berries.
Verdiso is, however, unrelated to all of them. It
is best known today as the complementary
grape to Glera in the production of Prosecco,
but centuries ago it was Verdiso that was the
more important of the two. Its presence in
Veneto appears to have been fi rst documented
as Verdise by G. B. Barpo (1634), and workers at
the Abbey of Follina in 1688 were planting it.
However, it was Count Pietro Caronelli in 1788
who fi rst wrote in depth about Verdiso, citing it
as locals' chosen variety to replant with follow-
ing the horrifi c frost of 1709, when most other
less-hardy varieties died. For example, Carpenè
and Vianello (1874) documented that by the
end of the 1800s, Verdiso was grown in fi fty of
the ninety-six townships in the province of
Treviso; and at twenty-four thousand hectoli-
ters a year, its wine was by far the most abun-
