Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
outside Piedmont and Lombardy's Valtellina
that will actually remind you of the variety. Cor-
nalin, Mayolet, and now Vuillermin are natives
coming on like gangbusters: only ten years ago
there was not a single pure bottling of these
varieties, while there are many now. Primetta
and Vien de Nus are rarer, and Ner d'Ala,
Bonda, Roussin de Morgex, and Crovassa rarer
still. Research on native grapes at the local
Institut Agricole Régional, sometimes per-
formed in collaboration with the University of
Turin and the Regional Agriculture Depart-
ment, has led to offi cial acceptance of various
clones of Petit Rouge and of biotypes of Moscato
Bianco, Nebbiolo, and Vien de Nus. More recent
studies have shed light on and permitted the
propagation of both massal and clonal selec-
tions of Cornalin, Mayolet, Vuillermin, Bonda,
Neret de Saint-Vincent, and other varieties.
are practically unknown outside their immedi-
ate production zones. Yet pure bottlings of the
fi rst three wines can easily be found locally.
Lombardy
Lombardy is where you'll fi nd mainly interna-
tional grape varieties, as most of the local varie-
ties were abandoned long ago in favor of more
famous foreign varieties, in part because this is
one of Italy's most important sparkling wine
production areas. Natives are there, though:
Croatina and Barbera, as well as little-known
varieties such as Invernenga, Pignola, Rossola,
and others that are currently the subject of much
study. In the Valtellina area, Nebbiolo thrives.
Trentino
Trentino is home to the native red grapes
Marzemino and Teroldego, the fi rst producing
the lighter wines of the two. However, while
Marzemino remains mainly a local variety, in
recent years Teroldego has enjoyed a boom of
sorts, and is increasingly planted elsewhere in
the country, perhaps buoyed by wines that are
no longer overly herbaceous, tannic, and bitter.
When delicately herbal, Teroldego yields smoky,
minerally, red-fruit-fi lled wines and makes
some of Italy's most idiosyncratic reds—wines
that can also age extremely well. Other very
common Trentino natives are the members of
the
Schiava
group (also typical of Alto Adige)
with which delicious, fruity, light-bodied red
wines, practically rosés, are produced. Other
unknown Trentino natives that I think deserve
more attention are Rossara, which has at least
one pure bottling, and Enantio (also known as
Lambrusco a Foglia Frastagliata), which has
quite a few more. A very important native white
grape is Nosiola. A study by Grando, Frising-
helli, and Stefanini (2000) showed that in
Trentino's geographically narrow wine-
producing areas, identical vine genotypes had
received many different but similar denomina-
tions, for example, Biancaccia and Biancazza,
or Schiava Grigia and Cenerina (these last two
Piedmont
Known the world over as the home of famous
wines such as Barolo, Barbaresco, and Moscato
d'Asti, Piedmont actually has many other great,
if little-known, indigenous varieties. Look for
the perfumed white wines made with Arneis;
the high-acid, clean, and lemony Gavi wines
made with the Cortese grape, or the minerally
whites made with Timorasso. Favorita is another
local white grape, but, as we have seen in the
previous chapter, current knowledge states that
it is a biotype of Liguria's Vermentino. Don't
miss out on more or less obscure red varieties
like Pelaverga Piccolo, Pelaverga Grosso, Ruchè,
Grignolino, Malvasia di Casorzo, Freisa, Bra-
chetto, Brachettone del Roero, Malvasia di Schi-
erano, and Moscato Nero, all of which can, in
the right hands, produce delightful wines (the
latter four varieties are aromatic red grapes that
produce wines not unlike the
Moscato
s). Lesser-
known native red varieties are Croatina, Uva
Rara, and Vespolina (these also grow in Lom-
bardy) of which 100 percent pure versions can
be found; by contrast, grapes such as Quagliano
(and the lovely sparkling sweet wine of the same
name), Neretto di Bairo, Avanà, and Avanengo
