Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Lagarino
the nineteenth century. Once common in the
areas surrounding the towns of Alessandria in
Piedmont and Pavia in Lombardy, Lambrusca di
Alessandria's cluster is large and conical or
pyramidal, with big wings. The berry is small
and round, with a thick skin. It's very resistant
to all of the most common grapevine diseases.
Importantly, budbreak is very late so it's ideal in
those areas where cold weather and spring frosts
are common. It also ripens very late, even after
Barbera. The wine is reportedly deeply colored,
reasonably tannic, medium to full bodied and
can age, but lacks complexity; however, I have
not yet tried a monovarietal wine I can describe
confi dently. Strange as it may seem, there
appears to be a monovarietal Lambrusca di
Alessandria wine made in California by Cougar
Vineyards in Temecula (and apparently Eusin-
ius Vineyards in San Diego County also grows
the grape): it appears the grapevine was origi-
nally misidentifi ed as Nebbiolo and the wines
garnered considerable critical and commercial
success, which in itself suggests that Lambrusca
di Alessandria is potentially an outstanding
wine grape indeed. I have yet to taste these Cali-
fornia wines, but I look forward to doing so, and
to visiting the wineries soon. Lambrusca di
Alessandria may be the fi rst example of an Ital-
ian grape being used to make wine outside the
country, while in Italy nobody does currently. In
this light, Lambrusca di Alessandria is yet
another Italian emigrant that has captured the
American Dream.
where it's found:
Trentino, Alto Adige.
national registry code number:
399.
color:
white.
A prime candidate for the most unfortunately
named Italian grape variety, Lagarino's name
derives from the German
lager,
meaning an
“area of predetermined dimension” or “circum-
scribed fi eld”; its local dialect names
chegarèl
and
sghittarella
aren't much better, as they refer to
this white grape's laxative properties. All that is a
little unfair, as Lagarino produces lovely light
white wines that are high in acid and fresh fl a-
vors. It is also a very pretty variety, with large
clusters and round, voluminous berries. Fur-
thermore, it is very hardy, one of the few that
survives at over one thousand meters above sea
level, where almost all other varieties succumb to
the frigid weather. It's not surprising then that it
grows in the northern Italian regions of Trentino
(especially in the Val di Sarca and the Val di
Cembra) and Alto Adige. At the end of the 1800s
it is estimated that over 12,500 hectoliters of laga-
rino were produced annually. It gives a high-acid
juice ideal for sparkling wine production.
Lambrusca di Alessandria
where it's found:
Piedmont.
national reg-
istry code number:
113.
color:
red.
Lambrusca di Alessandria is known by many
different synonyms: Crova (in the Pinerolese),
Neretto di Alessandria (in Val Chisone), Crovìn
(in Roero), Croetto or Moretto (in Alessan-
drino), Stupèt (in some areas of the Astigiano),
and Lambrusca; it is sometimes also confused
with Lambruschino, Lambrusca del Roero,
Lambruschetto, and Lambruschetta di Castel-
nuovo Bormida, all of which are distinct variet-
ies. Of course, it has no relationship with the
Lambrusco
s (Torello Marinoni, Raimondi, Boc-
cacci, and Schneider 2006), and is identical to
the variety called Brachetto Valsusino. It appears
to have been fi rst described by Count Giuseppe
Nuvolone, who was the assistant director of
Piedmont's agricultural society near the turn of
Lambrusca di Vittona
where it's found:
Piedmont.
national reg-
istry code number:
not registered.
color:
red.
Also called Vittona, Lambrusca di Vittona is
typical of the Pinerolese, where it was once very
common in the countryside around Cumiana,
Bricherasio, Santo Secondo, and Prarostino. It
is now common only around Barge and in the
Valli Chisone and Germanasca, where it is an
important part of the blend used to make the
wine Ramìe. The bunch is medium-small, the
