Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
spherical, thick skinned, and blue-black. It is
very resistant to sunburn (an important quality
in sun-soaked, high-altitude mountain vine-
yards) and it is usually harvested in mid-Octo-
ber (clearly, this late-ripening quality is not
much appreciated in alpine environments).
The wine is ruby-purple in hue with garnet
tinges, lightly fruity and vinous on the nose,
almost tart and low in alcohol. The Institut
Agricole Régional has saved vines and planted
them in experimental vineyard collections, so
at least the variety will not become extinct while
people fi gure out what winemaking potential it
might have, if any.
listed as a separate variety in the National
Registry.
Bracciola Nera
where it's found:
Tu sc a ny, L i g u r i a .
national
registry code number:
39.
color:
red.
Apparently, Bracciola Nera was first
described in 1590 by Soderini as growing in
northern Tuscany and the eastern viticultural
production zone of Liguria (Riviera di Levante),
but strangely he listed it as a very good
white
grape. Acerbi described it in the Cinque Terre
in 1825 and so did De Astis in 1937. Today it is
grown in only 25 hectares in the provinces of
Massa Carrara and La Spezia, and can be tasted
in the DOC Colli di Luni blends. The variety is
easy to recognize thanks to its large, very elon-
gated cylindrical, sparse, winged bunch. The
dark-blue berries come in various shapes and
are midsized. It ripens late (end of September
or early October), and production is usually
abundant. It is characterized by high total acid-
ity and fresh fl oral and fruity fl avors.
Boschera
where it's found:
Veneto.
national regis-
try code number:
326.
color:
white.
Boschera's name derives from
boschi
(woods), since this variety once grew near for-
ests at high altitudes, though it is also called
Pevarela, Peverella, Uva del Prete, Balotona,
Biancona, and Agresto. It used to be widely
planted in the Treviso area where it was appre-
ciated for its resistance to vine diseases. Today
it is found in signifi cant quantities only in the
production zone of Vittorio Veneto, in the DOC
Colli di Conegliano-Torchiato di Fregona. The
bunch is medium-sized but heavy (350 grams),
pyramidal, winged, and medium compact. The
berry is medium-sized and oval in shape, but
often has variable shapes. The skin is medium-
thick and yellow-green, with small brown spots
when fully ripe. It is very vigorous, so lowland
vineyards on fertile soils are best avoided. The
wine is yellow-green, bright and fresh, with
white stone-fruit and fresh fl ower aromas and
fl avors. Robinson, Harding, and Vouillamoz
(2012) list it as identical to Verdicchio based on
unpublished data by Vouillamoz and Grando,
but I have failed to fi nd other evidence of this,
and none of the local producers I have talked to
over the years has ever mentioned that they
thought or knew Boschera might be Verdic-
chio. Of course, this doesn't mean that it isn't
Verdicchio, but for now it remains offi cially
Bressana
See
SCHIAVA
GROUP
, chapter 3.
Brugnola
where it's found:
Lombardy.
national reg-
istry code number:
not registered.
color:
red.
Brugnola's main claim to fame is that it has
a parent-offspring relationship with Nebbiolo,
which has been cultivated in the same Lombard
areas for millennia. Brugnola was once consid-
ered a synonym of Emilia-Romagna's Fortana,
but this is incorrect as the two are distinct vari-
eties. Brugnola's bunch is medium-large, coni-
cal, and long, while the blue-black berry is oval
and large. There are two clones: clone 10, with
a round leaf and a sparse bunch, and clone 12,
which has a pentagonal leaf and a more com-
pact bunch. There is also a biotype that has a
