Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
per note can be extremely strong in vespolina,
even bothersome. A recent interesting study
showed that Vespolina wines are rich in rotun-
done, an aromatic molecule that smells of
spices such as marjoram and rosemary (in fact,
both herbs are rich in rotundone too) (Mattivi,
Caputi, Carlin, Lanza, Minozzi, Nanni, et al.
2011). Clearly, as this is a fairly tannic variety
(and the tannins can be a problem when the
grapes are not perfectly ripe,) the use of new
oak in the aging process is contraindicated.
cal information of any kind available on
Vitovska, a variety that was brought back from
limbo in Italy thanks to the passion and com-
mitment of a handful of Carso producers.
However, if little is known about what our
ancestors thought of Vitovska, recent research
has shed light on the parentage of the variety.
Crespan, Crespan, Giannetto, Meneghetto, and
Costacurta (2007) compared data from eleven
SSRs, and suggested that this variety could be
an offspring of Malvasia Bianca Lunga (alias
Malvasia del Chianti) and Prosecco Tondo. By
extending molecular analysis to thirty-seven
nuclear SSR loci, they found further evidence
for the origins of Vitovska: the additional data
confi rmed the two putative parents indicated
previously. Interestingly, recent work showed
Vitovska Grganja to share only 55 percent of
analyzed alleles with Vitovska (Rusjan, Jug, and
ˇ
tajner 2010); and other researchers showed a
first-degree (parent-progeny) relationship
(
ˇ
tajner, Korosec-Koruzam, Ruzjan, and
Javornik 2008). This means it is incorrect to
refer to Vitovska and Vitovska Grganja inter-
changeably, for they are not identical varieties.
Notably, Vitovska Grganja appears to be identi-
cal to another old and little-known Slovenian
variety called Racuk; however, the synonymy of
Vitovska Grganja and Racuk can't yet be con-
fi rmed as we still lack an accurate morphologi-
cal characterization of Racuk.
I remember extremely well when the fi rst
bottles of vitovska arrived on my tasting table in
the early 1980s, from a grape nobody (myself
included) had ever heard of. Yet, the wines were
exceptionally good from day one, and it didn't
take the variety long to make waves and snag a
market niche for itself. Vitovska's renaissance
began in the 1960s, when Luigi Lupinc, a small
wine producer in San Pelagio di Prepotto, was
the fi rst to perform fi eld selections of Vitovska,
grafting it onto American rootstocks, propagat-
ing it, and fi nally bottling a fi nished wine. Other
local estates soon took up Lupinc's example, fi rst
and foremost Edi Kante, who soon became the
recognized ambassador of Vitovska in Italy and
abroad. That it took the Italian bureaucracy until
wines to try:
Ioppi*** (Coda Rossa), Rovel-
lotti***, Francesco Brigatti***, Antichi Vigneti
di Cantalupo**, and Torraccia del Pian-
tavigna** (Maretta). But any wine you pick will
likely prove well made and wonderful.
Vitovska
where it's found:
FVG.
national registry
code number:
320.
color:
white.
Also called Organca, Gargania, Gargana,
and Vitouska (and in bordering Slovenia,
Vitovska Grganja or Garganja), Vitovska is a
white grape that in Italy is grown only in Friuli
Venezia Giulia. Even there, it's predominantly
found in Friuli Carso, with only a few vines also
grown in Friuli Isonzo. Clearly, the name of the
grape is of Slovenian origin (Vitovska is com-
mon in the Slovenian Carso, or Kras, specifi -
cally in the Vipava Valley), probably deriving
either from
vitez
(wine of the chevalier) or
Vitovlje, a small town located in the Slovenian
Brda region. Since Vitovska is a Slovenian
name, its correct pronunciation involves accent-
ing both the
i
and the
o
(so, Vìtòvska).
As it is found nowhere else in the Mediter-
ranean and its history is part of local traditions,
Vitovska is considered a native variety, though
whether that means native to Italy or Slovenia is
open to debate. In fact, though opinion is wide-
spread that Vitovska originated in the Carso
area, there is little information to support the
assertion that this cultivar is strictly localized
in the region, and there are no traces of its pres-
ence elsewhere. There is precious little histori-
