Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
min, and even more obscure ones like Garofa-
nata and Coda di Volpe Rossa, have borne out,
time and again, the wonderful fi ne-winemak-
ing potential of many of these “other” natives.
One problem is who evaluates the microvinifi -
cations of new varieties and how they are evalu-
ated. I distinctly remember thinking, on my
fi rst taste of Coda di Volpe Rossa, what amaz-
ing potential it had: yet the researchers had
presented it as a grape of no interest, at most
worth considering for sparkling wine produc-
tion. When I mentioned this to Maurizio De
Simone, a well-known consulting winemaker
in Campania and Lazio, he just shook his head
and laughed: “You know what I call that grape
variety? Campania's Pinot Nero, so you know
just how highly I think of it.”
Some of the varieties listed below are not yet
offi cially included in Italy's National Registry of
Grape Varieties. I also include a number of cul-
tivars that have not yet been suffi ciently studied
(and that further research may identify with
another, already known cultivar) but that I
believe are, at the present state of knowledge,
distinct enough to describe in this topic. It
wasn't so long ago that many now important
cultivars such as Pecorino and Uva di Troia
were essentially unknown, and practically
nobody used to make monovarietal wines with
them. In fact, even grapes that have shot to star-
dom, like Nerello Mascalese, are only recent
rediscoveries. Had I written this topic in 1995
or 2000 the Nerello Mascalese entry would
have been much shorter, as at the time there
was only one easy-to-fi nd monovarietal bot-
tling. Many of the little-known varieties in this
chapter are in that same condition today: and
yet I am confi dent that, one day, at least some of
t hem w ill be show n to have prev iously untapped
fi ne-wine potential. The future will tell which
of the following “little-known” grape varieties
make the grade and which risk oblivion.
New “old” varieties from which to make
wine are springing back to life all the time. The
most recent additions to the list include
Antinello (number 446) and Somarello Rosso
(number 459). Others such as Gradò (number
464) or Serbina (number 433) have not been
associated with any quality wines that I know
of. For example, Lambruschino di Cavria, or
Festasio, has recently been rediscovered. But
who knows? We might one day see monovarie-
tal wines made from one, some, or even all of
these, and it will be great to say we were there
right from the start.
Abbuoto
where it's found:
Lazio.
national registry
code number:
1.
color:
red.
Abbuoto has the honor, given the spelling of
its name, to be the fi rst variety listed in Italy's
National Registry of Grape Varieties. Is Abbuoto
a
numero uno
wine too? Initial enological
results seem to indicate so. Abbuoto appears to
be a very high-quality variety, allowing for com-
plex, ageworthy red wines. It is also sometimes
known as San Giuseppe Nero or Aboto. Wine-
maker Maurizio De Simone tells me that
Abbuoto was used to make cécubo, a wine
famous in ancient Rome, and considered a wor-
thy rival to falernum
.
Pliny thought highly of
the abbuoto from Amicle, a small town near
Terracina; he believed this wine's superior
quality was due to the marshy soils where pop-
lars provided natural supports for the vines.
Nowadays Abbuoto is cultivated mainly in
the province of Latina (near the towns of Fondi,
Formia, Sperlonga, and Gaeta) along the south-
eastern coast of Lazio, and in small vineyard
plots around the towns of Frosinone and Fiuggi
in southwestern Lazio. Recently a few vine-
yards have been replanted around Spigno Sat-
urnia, Santi Cosma, and Damiano, towns
located in the provinces of Latina and Caserta
in Campania. Still, plantings remain scarce,
and the cultivar has only recently become the
subject of renewed interest. Abbuoto is not par-
ticularly vigorous and its limited productivity
explains why farmers chose to abandon it. In
particular, Abbuoto has suffered the competi-
tion of Cesanese Comune and Cesanese
d'Affi le, much better-known and more profi ta-
ble native red varieties of southern Lazio.
