Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Guarnaccino
ducer of DOC Ostuni is Greco (Donna Nina),
whose wine is made with 75 percent Impigno
and 25 percent Francavidda. Light, crisp, and
easygoing, it won't put Montrachet out of
business but it's a perfectly acceptable
wine for simple summer sipping—if you can
fi nd it.
where it's found:
Basilicata.
national reg-
istry code number:
122.
color:
red.
Guarnaccino is a variety I'd never heard of
until I read the abstracts of the Thirty-fi fth
World Congress of Vine and Wine. Apparently
it is native to Basilicata, the very small region
tucked between Calabria and Puglia. I have no
reason to doubt it's a newly discovered native
variety, and I await publication of the research
results in a reputable peer-reviewed journal so
we can all learn more about this grape.
Janese
where it's found:
Campania.
national regis-
try code number:
not registered.
color:
red.
Also called Gaianaese, Janese is an almost
extinct variety of Campania, found mainly in
old vineyards around Avellino and Baronissi.
Froio describes its existence in the nineteenth
century but it does not appear that the variety
was ever extremely popular. Medium-sized
with a compact cluster and small berries,
Janese is remarkably resistant to botrytis
and other diseases and the wine itself holds
promise, though its elevated vigor needs to
be tamed. Examples I have tasted made by
welcoming farmers attest to the grape's fi ne-
wine potential, not unlike a good quality,
slightly less herbal piedirosso, but as Janese is
interplanted with Piedirosso and other varie-
ties, there's always quite a bit of Piedirosso in
these wines.
Impigno
where it's found:
Puglia.
national registry
code number:
107.
color:
white.
Impigno is the name of a farmer credited
with having brought this variety to Ostuni
between 1904 and 1905. A recent study sug-
gests that Impigno is a natural cross between
Puglia's Bombino Bianco and Piedmont's
Quagliano, which is strange only because nei-
ther Quaglaino nor Impigno, to the best of my
knowledge, has ever been described in the
other region (Cipriani, Spadotto, Jurman, Di
Gaspero, Crespan, Meneghetti, et al. 2010).
Not that it is unfathomable that an immigrant
or two (to either region) might have chosen to
travel with their favorite grapevines packed
away along with toothbrush and underwear.
Today the variety is rare, and over the years I
have had real trouble fi nding anyone who
might make a monovarietal wine with it. In
all honesty, during my grapevine travels I got
the distinct impression that most people I
talked to didn't understand why I even both-
ered with Impigno. However, Impigno still
grows in the countryside around Ostuni,
Brindisi, Carovigno, San Vito dei Normanni,
and a few other towns of the area, where grow-
ers hold it in higher esteem than do other
Puglian winemakers (all not from that spe-
cifi c area, mind you). The bunch is medium-
sized, loosely packed, and winged. The berry
is oval, medium-sized, and green. A good pro-
Lacrima del Valdarno
where it's found:
Tu sc a ny.
national regis-
try code number:
not registered.
color:
red.
Lacrima del Valdarno is a very rare variety
found in some vineyards of Tuscany, where it
has been cultivated since the mid-nineteenth
century. A small grape with small clusters and
berries, Lacrima del Valdarno fl owers and
ripens late; the latter is hardly an endearing
quality to Tuscan farmers of the Valdarno
area, where it's cold and rainy in the fall, lead-
ing to ripening diffi culties. In this variety's
defense, it has proven to be very resistant over-
all, so perhaps farmers can wait to shed tears
after all.
