Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
ous variety, it ripens in early September. I know
of no monovarietal wines being made with it.
have a colored pulp. The stalk is red, hence the
name, which means red stalk.
Recantina
Prunesta
where it's found:
Calabria.
national regis-
try code number:
202.
color:
red.
Also known as Uva del Soldato and Ruggia,
Prunesta probably takes its name from the
copious bloom covering the breast-shaped ber-
ries; this shape causes others to believe the
variety's name stems from the Latin grape
Bumastos, which had a berry in the shape of a
cow breast. It has a medium-sized, very stocky,
pyramidal, winged bunch, with large, oval,
blue-black berries. It ripens in mid-September.
It is not the same as the similarly named table
grape of Puglia.
where it's found:
Veneto.
national regis-
try code number:
409.
color:
red.
The
Recantina
family of grapes have been
cultivated at least since the 1600s in the area
around Treviso in Veneto, though we do not
know if the various
Recantina
s documented
were truly different varieties or just biotypes.
The best-known among them are Recantina
Pecolo Rosso (red-stalked), Recantina
Pecolo Scuro (green-stalked), and Recantina
Forner (named after the estate where it was
found). I have been told by Emanuele Tosi of the
University of Verona that it is likely that the
main Recantina variety is Recantina Pecolo
Rosso.
In any case, this has always been a highly
regarded variety: Agostinetti in 1679 and Zam-
benedetti a century later strongly recom-
mended and pushed for its cultivation; Zam-
benedetti referred to it as
Recaldine
(Zoccoletto
2001)
.
The grape cluster is medium-large,
pyramidal, winged, generally sparse, with
round, medium-sized, blue-black berries. It rip-
ens in late September, and is vigorous and
resistant to common diseases. I have seen the
variety in numerous vineyards in Veneto.
Microvinifi cations have yielded a very per-
fumed wine (blackberry and an intense note of
violet) with good tannic structure and acidity.
Not only will
Recantina
almost certainly one
day be included in the Valpolicella and Ama-
rone blend, but I can certainly see it standing
on its own as well. Given this variety's qualities,
it's probably only a matter of time.
Quaiara
where it's found:
Veneto.
national regis-
try code number:
not registered.
color:
red.
Sormani-Moretti (1904) is the only histori-
cal resource available by which to learn some-
thing about this rare variety; he also calls it
Quagliara, Cojara, and Guajara. Cancellier in
1980 was the fi rst modern ampelographer to
describe it in some detail. The cultivar has a
medium-sized bunch (average weight: 370
grams), more or less sparse, long, and winged,
with medium-large, elliptical, red-blue berries.
The wine is thoroughly uninteresting, reddish-
orange in hue, with neutral, vinous aromas and
an unpleasant earthy-herbal taste.
Raspo Rosso
where it's found:
Tu sc a ny.
national regis-
try code number:
not registered.
color:
red.
Another of the
teinturier
grapes of Tuscany,
which are so plentiful in Tuscany and so rare
worldwide, Raspo Rosso is characterized by a
medium-sized, conical-cylindrical grape bunch
and small, round, blue-black grapes that do not
Retagliado Bianco
where it's found:
Sardinia.
national regis-
try code number:
207.
color:
white.
Also known as Arba-Luxi, Arretallau, and
Mara Bianca, Retagliado Bianco was apparently
mainly used as a table grape in the nineteenth
