Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
though for a few vintages, he made some excel-
lent minnellas in the I Monovitigni series of
wines from Benanti. Those wines were fresh,
herbal and fl oral, with a soft-bodied texture and
a creamy fi nish reminiscent of unripe apricot
and pear. Though Foti obviously didn't think
too much of them, I actually thought they were
pretty good.
potential, with bunches that are neither too
compact nor too sparse, and with good sugar
accumulation in the berries. I have not yet tried
any microvinifi cations, and I don't know how
wines made with it would differ from those
made with Montanera del Salluzzese.
Montonico Pinto
where it's found: Calabria. national regis-
try code number: not registered. color:
white.
Not to be confused with Montonico Bianco,
this variety is also known as Montonico
Ciarchiarisi and is found in vineyards around
Frascineto, Civita, Castrovillari, and Cassano
Ionico, in the province of Cosenza. It is not a
very resistant variety, and the wine, when one is
able to fi nd a monovarietal version, is light and
acid with aromas and fl avors of white fl owers
and citrus fruits. The DOC Pollino is where
Montonico Pinto is likely to be included.
Molinelli
where it's found: Emilia-Romagna. national
registry code number: not registered. color:
white.
Molinelli is a one-family or one-estate vari-
ety if you will: the grape was discovered in the
1960s by the Molinelli family (who gave it their
name) in their vineyards. Studies performed by
the esteemed Fregoni (1969) have shown Moli-
nelli to be a variety distinct from others known
to date.
wines to try: La Celata* is a brand of the
Molinelli family, which produces wines under
its family name as well. La Celata's Tabula Rasa
is bright and fresh, with herbal and winter
melon notes complicated by fl inty and tropical
fruit nuances. It has good length and clarity of
fl avor: I enjoy it as an aperitif or with lightly
prepared fi sh and vegetable dishes. However,
since it is aged fi ve months in small, used oak
barrels, it can stand up to more complex fi sh
dishes as well.
Moradella
where it's found: Lombardy. national reg-
istry code number: not registered. color:
red.
Moradella was once the most important
variety grown in the province of Pavia, where it
was cultivated in ninety-six townships. Acerbi
(1825) described two biotypes, a Moradella Pic-
cola and a Moradella Grossa. It lost out to Bar-
bera and other hardier cultivars with the arrival
of oidium, to which it is very sensitive. In the
area of Voghera it is also called Croà, but the
two varieties often don't look at all like each
other; whether this is just a matter of intravari-
etal variability or of truly distinct varieties is
still unknown. In the past, some experts found
a strong resemblance between Moradella and
Mourvèdre. The bunch is conical and small,
the berries round and very dark blue-black. The
best sites are well exposed (both in terms of
sunlight and of aeration), on preferably clay-
sandy soils with good drainage. Apart from
oidium sensitivity, it's fairly disease resistant.
Montanera
where it's found: Piedmont, Lombardy. na -
tional registry code number: not registered.
color: red.
The variety I describe here is Montanera di
Perosa, an alpine variety, rediscovered only
recently in hard-to-reach mountain vineyards
of the Val Chisone, Biellese, Val d'Ossola, and
Valtellina. It was documented in the 1800s
(Provana di Collegno 1883) but should not to be
confused with the similarly named Montanera
del Saluzzese. It appears to have fi ne-wine
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