Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Despite its name, Barbera Sarda is com-
pletely unrelated to the better-known Barbera
of Piedmont, and is a recent island discovery, as
it was not listed in offi cial documentation until
1965. It was inserted into the National Registry
of Grape Varieties in 1988 and was well
described only in 2001. It grows mainly around
Cagliari; as of 2002 there were roughly 174
hectares planted. SSR microsatellite testing has
shown it to be distinct from but closely related
to both Muristellu and Bovale Sardo (Nieddu
2011). Barbera Sarda (or, more precisely, the
Barbera Sarda that was sampled in the Parte-
olla countryside of Sardinia) is genetically
unrelated to any other Sardinian variety
(Lovicu, Farci, Sedda, Labra, De Mattia, Grassi,
and Bacchetta 2010). It is not identical to Cari-
gnano, as had been previously thought. The
bunch is conical-cylindrical, medium-small
(270 grams), with medium-sized, roundish-
oval, deep-blue berries. It ripens in September.
A few artisanally made wines I have tried over
the years were, not surprisingly given its name,
characterized by high acidity, but I can't be sure
that the wines really were monovarietal, as
these grapevines are often interplanted with
other cultivars and the farmers usually harvest
all the varieties together.
Ortrugo di Bobbio, though the latter two are
particularly inaccurate terms as they engender
confusion with Ortrugo, a completely different
variety. It is originally from the Val Trebbia
zone of Emilia-Romagna, and is characterized
by good vigor and productivity, a cylindrical,
small and compact grape bunch, and round,
medium-sized, yellow-green berries. It ripens
quickly, so it is usually harvested in the fi rst
ten days of September. Clearly, this is a differ-
ent variety from Grignolino (which is red),
though Barbesino was long used as a synonym
for it.
Bariletta
where it's found: Campania. national reg-
istry code number: not registered. color:
red.
Antonio Di Spirito, a proud southern Italian
who has written in some of my wine guides and
web sites, discovered Bariletta wine a few years
back on one of his forays in the Campanian
countryside and quickly let me have a smell and
taste. The wine was impressive enough that we
presented it at the 2010 Roma Vino Excellence
wine fair, when the wine was still in the fi nal
stages of production. This was almost surely a
fi rst for Bariletta, at least outside Campania. An
apparently very old grape variety that was well
known to ancient Romans, according to recent
DNA analysis Bariletta might be related to the
Primitivo s. The fi rst commercial vintage was
2010. Loaded with red-cherry and dark-berry
fruit, this midweight is marked by a note of
licorice and smooth tannins.
wines to try: There are no monovarietal Bar-
bera Sarda wines, but the Cantina di Dolianova
has started making a wine called Terresicci in
which Barbera Sarda is the main player (85 per-
cent), together with Syrah and Montepulciano.
Barbesino
where it's found: Emilia-Romagna, Lom-
bardy. national registry code number: not
registered. color: white.
Though it's making a comeback of sorts
today, Barbesino is another variety that was
much thought of by farmers of centuries past
and has not made it into modern times in any
large numbers, essentially because its wines
lack much color. It is also known as Barbesina,
Barbesino Bianco, Ortrugo di Rovescala, and
wines to try: Tela ro.
Belzamino
where it's found: Emilia-Romagna. national
registry code number: not registered. color:
white.
Very rare, almost extinct variety that sur-
vives in only a few sporadic rows near Faenza
and Lugo in the province of Ravenna in the
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