Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
a steel tank anywhere in sight, Podere Scur-
tarola's Vernero is an oaky wine with some
aging potential (best within fi ve to eight years
of the vintage, in my mind). Every bottle of
vermentino nero I have ever had (and I've had
a few) was marked by very high acidity. For
this reason too, Lorieri has also tried air-dry-
ing the grapes to make sweet versions of the
wine.
hence has to be trained with long-pruning sys-
tems to keep its vigor under control.
Which Wines to Choose and Why
A good monovarietal vespaiola brings to mind
acacia blossoms, pear, and ripe citrus; frankly
sweet wines also feature ripe tropical fruit and
honeyed notes. Clearly, the winemaking has to
be on the ball, for any excessive oxidation will
cause the wine to lose its bright aromatic fl a-
vors. “Its principal characteristics,” says Macu-
lan, “are the high tartaric acid concentration
and its extremely delicate fl oral nose. Dry ver-
sions match perfectly with dishes such as
bac-
calà alla vicentina
and with white asparagus.
Thanks to this wonderful acidity, it's an even
better grape with which to make sweet wines,
and in fact a well-made Torcolato is never
cloying.”
There are many very good wines to choose
from, but for monovarietal sweet vespaiola
made from air-dried grapes, try the wines
called Torcolato (the clusters are bound together
with two pieces of twine that are twisted or
wound, a method known as
torcolare
in local
dialect; the clusters are then suspended over
rafters to dry).
wines to try:
Podere Scurtarola** (Vernero),
Cima***, Terenzuola** (a fresh, midweight
example), and Lunae Bosoni** (Mearosa, a
rosato;
owner Diego Bosoni says they plan to be
making a monovarietal red vermentino nero in
the next few years).
Vernaccias
See
VERNACCIA
GROUP
, chapter 3.
Vespaiola
where it's found:
Veneto.
national regis-
try code number:
263.
color:
white.
A native of Veneto—where it is or has also
been called Bresparola Bianca, Vespaia, Uva
Vespera, and Vesparola—Vespaiola is clearly
named for the hungry wasps
(vespe)
that target
its sweet grapes. Fausto Maculan, of the famous
Maculan estate in Veneto, told me that the vari-
ety was rarely mentioned prior to the nine-
teenth century, and that its name fi rst appeared
in a 1754 poem, “
Il roccolo,”
which lists all of the
cultivars grown around Vicenza at that time.
Acerbi (1825) was the fi rst to describe in some
depth a Vespaiola grown near Bassano, and
later Di Rovasenda (1877) wrote of various
Ves-
paiola
s near Vicenza. Marzotto (1925) believed
the many various
Vespaiola
s of Alessandria,
Siena, and Vicenza to be the same variety.
Researchers of late have focused mainly on
developing better clones to work with. Vespaiola
has been on a roll mainly due to the success of
Torcolato, one of Italy's very best sweet wines.
Maculan thinks the variety is high quality but
is just a little too vigorous in its youth and
wines to try:
Firmino Miotti***, Maculan***,
Beato Bartolomeo**, and Villa Angarano**
(Torcolato Riserva). For Breganze Vespaiolo
(dry wine), try: Contra Saordà*** (Vignasilan),
Ca' Biasi***, Villa Angarano* (Angarano
Bianco Vespaiolo), and Maculan* (Vespaiolo).
Vespolina
where it's found:
Piedmont, Lombardy.
na -
tional registry code number:
264.
color:
red.
I believe Vespolina to be one of Italy's best
native grape varieties: no small praise, consid-
ering this is the country of Nebbiolo, Fiano,
Sangiovese, and Aglianico. Like all things
worthwhile, it can be diffi cult: according to
more than one viticulturist I have spoken with
over the years, it's not the easiest cultivar to
