Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
ovarietal wines being made from it. Cipriani,
Spadotto, Jurman, Di Gaspero, Crespan,
Meneghetti, et al. (2010) have demonstrated
that Garofanata is an offspring of Trebbiano
Toscano (the grape is called Garofana in the
paper). Garofanata is characterized by a
medium-small, pyramidal bunch and round,
golden-green berries. According to Giancarlo
Soverchia, a well-respected winemaker work-
ing to save local forgotten grapes and trying to
make monovarietal wines from them, Garofa-
nata has a delicately aromatic perfume and
excellent acidity. Locals believe the variety's
name derives from a hint of geranium aroma
(garofano)
in the wine's nose. Soverchia likes
the variety and honestly I can see why: the wine
is clean and fresh, offering hints of unripe
peach, chlorophyll, and white fl owers. It's very
light bodied but it makes an ideal sipping wine.
productive variety that produces grapes high in
sugar and low in acid content; the wine can be
thrilling, so this is another variety, like Fenile,
that I'd like to see become more present in
Campania—in all another wonderful Italian
native that deserves rediscovery.
Granè
where it's found:
Tu sc a ny.
national regis-
try code number:
not registered.
color:
red.
Another very rare Tuscan
teinturier
grown
mainly around Pisa and Lucca. The bunch is
large, pyramidal, winged, and the berry is oval,
blue-black, and has a colored pulp. It ripens
late, in October.
Granoir
where it's found:
Tu sc a ny.
national regis-
try code number:
352.
color:
red.
Also known as Grand Noir, Granoir is one of
the many coloring grapes or
teinturiers,
with a
delicately colored pulp that has been used
throughout the centuries to increase the color
of more anemic wines. The bunch is small,
winged, and pyramidal and the grapes are also
small and round, blue-black. It grows mainly in
Tuscany, but is not very common. Some believe
that there are two distinct Granoir grapes in
Tuscany, either of which may also be called
Grand Noir; all this engenders confusion with
the Granoir of Valle d'Aosta, a crossing of
Gamay and Reichensteiner Bianco that was
originally called Gastar. The same crossing has
given rise to another variety called Gamaret,
National Registry code number 351.
wines to try:
Terracruda** (Garofanata, a
very good wine).
Ginestra
where it's found:
Campania.
national reg-
istry code number:
384.
color:
white.
This variety's name is thought to derive
from the yellow fl ower of same name (
ginestra
or broom) as both grapes and wines smell
intensely like the fl ower. Ginestra is grown all
along the Amalfi coast, especially near Scala,
Ravello, Amalfi , Maiori, and Minori. It is called
Biancazita around Furore, Tramonti, Corsara,
and Positano, and Biancatenera around Scala. It
has been known since the early nineteenth cen-
tury, but for the longest time confusion reigned
supreme as it was believed to be distinct from
Biancazita and Biancatenera (the three are
identical), but synonymous with Falanghina or
Biancolella (two varieties distinct from Gines-
tra). The synonymy between Ginestra and
Biancazita was fi rst suspected by Froio (1875),
while today Biancatenera seems more likely to
be a biotype characterized by particularly soft
skin (
tenera,
or soft). Ginestra is a vigorous,
Gratena
where it's found:
Tu sc a ny.
national regis-
try code number:
not registered.
color:
red.
We know a little bit about this variety today
thanks to Fabio De Ambrogi, owner of the Fat-
toria di Gratena where roughly eight hundred
vines growing in a small parcel called “the
