Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
infl uence a wine's fi nal aroma and fl avor pro-
fi le. The total makeover that Grillo wines have
undergone provides a good example (though
there are others) of what yeasts and a highly
reductive winemaking technique wherein oxi-
dation is avoided at all costs can lead to. What
used to be a big, almost meaty, white wine with
earthy and lightly herbal notes is now almost
always light, fresh, lemony, and crisp. It is, in
fact, very sauvignonesque. It hardly resembles
the grillo I remember; and though the new
wines are excellent, some very well-respected
winemakers such as Renato De Bartoli feel that
the new wines have betrayed what Grillo is
really all about. Asked to name a Grillo wine he
liked today, besides his own excellent Terza Via
rendition, De Bartoli smiled and promptly
answered, “all the ones that don't taste like the
majority made today.” Whether today's wines
are really exemplary of what these grapes are all
about—rather than the winemaking technique
employed—is still a matter of debate, and an
issue that needs careful thought.
With that . . .
about native grapes, and what is written is often
peppered with mistakes. For example, in a topic
devoted to Italy's native grapes, there are sepa-
rate chapters for Sangiovese and Prugnolo: in
fact, the latter is a biotype of the former and not
a different variety. Another tome states that
oaking Ribolla Gialla, “helps it express in a
more important and fuller way,” which must be
news to about 98 percent of all Italian produc-
ers of ribolla, who choose not to oak it: the last
thing Ribolla's delicate aromas and fl avors
need is oak. You might read that Rossese is
resistant to oidium or mites, which it is not; and
anyone who has seen Schioppettino's opulent,
almost rubenesque berries would be surprised
to read that the variety has “medium-small
berries.”
Italian Natives Set out to Conquer the World
I never cease to be amazed by the passion and
dedication wine producers bring to their daily
work. It's backbreaking labor, yet they are
always thrilled to sit down with me or anyone
else genuinely interested in their work. Many
are fully devoted to native grapes, even though
they could be making world-famous wines
from international grapes too. Over the years,
many producers in Italy have planted a few
rows of little-known grapes to study their wine-
making potential, or have started collaborations
with university research institutions in an
effort to know more about rare varieties they
own already. Most produce 100 percent mono-
varietal wines, with only a few including 5-10
percent of another variety, an ideal situation.
However, the great news about Italy's native
grapes is just how international they are slowly
becoming. They have been around in small
quantities for centuries, but now the numbers
are starting to increase noticeably. For example,
the arrival of Italian grape varieties in Sonoma
dates back to the Italian Swiss Agricultural
Colony, founded in 1881 by Andrea Sbarboro in
Asti (not the one in Italy's Piedmont, the one in
Sonoma's Alexander Valley). It cannot surprise
anyone that when Italian immigrants bought
The Power of the Press
It's one thing to evaluate Merlot and Cabernet
wines, given the prevalence of these varieties in
the world's vineyards, but quite another to eval-
uate wines made with Oseleta, Quagliano, or
Tintilia, varieties that hardly anyone ever tastes.
Years ago, while tasting a Tintilia with wine-
maker Attilio Pagli, I mentioned that I really
didn't know much about the grape or the wine.
Pagli laughed and said, “nobody knows any-
thing about Tintilia.” Of course, it's a huge help
if and when wine writers choose to write about
such little-known grapes and wines; the pro-
motional windfall for both grapes and wines is
important. However, awarding scores to wines
one knows next to nothing about is quite
another matter—and some people do buy wines
based on scores. It's hard for most people to
taste wines made from little-known varieties,
and made in very small volumes, with any reg-
ularity. Plus there simply isn't much written
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