Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Cacamosca
different leaves and much smaller bunches
with pinkish berries when fully ripe. The wine
is also very different because of aromas that
are smoky and terpenic. The only producer of
this wine was Fattoria Michi, under the wine-
making consultation of Lorenzo Landi. How-
ever the cultivar has not been genetically ana-
lyzed, and so while I am listing it separately,
we may yet learn that it is a biotype of Trebbi-
ano Toscano or of another variety. The wine is
certainly more interesting than any dry white
wine made with the lowly Trebbiano Toscano.
where it's found:
Campania.
national reg-
istry code number:
not registered.
color:
white.
The curious name of this variety (
cacamosca
means fl y excrement) derives from the brown
blemishes that appear on the yellow-green ber-
ries when the grapes are fully ripe. Found only
in Campania, and mainly in the provinces of
Naples and Salerno, Cacamosca was believed to
be identical to the Riciniello Bianco of Gaeta
(Froio 1875). Both Froio and Nesbitt (1884)
believed that the variety was especially abundant
in the countryside around Naples, along the
Amalfi coast near Ravello, and even in Irpinia
around Avellino, where it was called Gaglioppo
(the same name as the completely unrelated red
variety of Calabria). According to Costantini,
Monaco, Vouillamoz, Forlani, and Grando
(2005) it has close genetic ties to Fenile, a variety
typical of the Amalfi coast. Froio believed it to be
a very high-quality variety, and according to him
the wine made from Cacamosca was highly
thought of and popular in nineteenth-century
Paris. Today the grapevine is almost extinct.
This is not surprising given the variety's low
productivity, due to extremely poor vigor, very
small cylindrical bunches, and very small spher-
ical grapes. The wine made from it usually has
good alcoholic strength and low acidity, so his-
torically it was mainly used in blends.
wines to try:
Fattoria Michi* (winemaker
Lorenzo Landi tells me that this winery has
been inactive since 2012).
Cabrusina
where it's found:
Veneto.
national regis-
try code number:
not registered.
color:
red.
Not much is known about Cabrusina,
beyond that it is found in Valpolicella, where it
is also known as Cambrusina and Montanara.
Cosmo, writing in the mid-twentieth century,
was so sure it was destined to become extinct
that he didn't furnish ampelographic descrip-
tions. In fact, Dalmasso, Cosmo, and Dell'Olio
(1939) write that as vineyards were replanted,
Cabrusina plantings decreased sharply, because
people chose not to replant it in light of the less
than stellar wines made with it. The fi rst accu-
rate description is by Cancellier, Costacurta,
Angelini, and Segattini in their
Vecchi vitigni
veronesi
(1980). The cluster is very large and
can weigh up to one kilogram; it's pyramidal
and compact, with one or two wings, and has
large spherical but not uniform berries. The
variety is vigorous and productive, with good
disease resistance; the harvest is in late Sep-
tember or early October. The wine, tasted from
microvinifi cations, is light ruby, fairly neutral
in its aromas (which can be described as vinous
or grapey at best), medium bodied, and tart.
I'm not sure it's the Italian native grape with
the brightest future.
Cacchione
See
BELLONE
, chapter 4
.
Caddiu
where it's found:
Sardinia.
national regis-
try code number:
44.
color:
red.
A rare variety currently grown on only twelve
hectares in Sardinia (almost all around
Oristano, in the lower valley of the Tirso), Cad-
diu is appreciated as a table grape because of its
large, sweet berries. It is distinct from all other
Sardinian varieties but is closely related to a lit-
