Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
microsatellite analysis has suggested a parent-
offspring relationship between Uva Tosca and
Lambrusco Montericco.
paired with simply prepared freshwater fi sh
and vegetable dishes.
Verdetto
Varano Bianco and Varano Rosa
where it's found:
Emilia-Romagna.
national
registry code number:
not registered.
color:
white.
Another of the many little-known cultivars
grown around Rimini and fi rst mentioned by
De Bosis (1879), Verdetto is rare in that it never
seems to have been grown much even in the
nearby areas around Forlì and Cesena. Though
it has been suggested that Verdetto is identical
to Verdicchio, this is unclear, given the myriad
of green-named grape varieties in Italy; it may
well be that one accession of Verdetto was in
fact Verdicchio, but more studies are necessary.
Today there are only sporadic rows grown
around San Giovanni in Marignano, but indica-
tions are the cultivar makes very good wine and
ought to be the subject of more study and
propagation.
where it's found:
Emilia-Romagna.
national
registry code number:
not registered.
color:
white/red.
The
Varano
family of grapes includes white,
pink, and red varieties. First described by De
Bosis near Rimini (1879), the most abundantly
cultivated are Varano Rosa and Varano Bianco.
Not much is yet known about these very ancient
varieties (Trinci describes a Varano in 1726),
though it appears that they grow in Tuscany as
well. All the
Varano
s once doubled as table
grapes, as they all have large, succulent berries.
Varano Bianco has a stocky, compact, medium-
large bunch with round berries; Varano Rosa
has large, compact, pyramidal bunch with
round, pink berries.
Verdealbara
Verduschia
where it's found:
Trentino.
national regis-
try code number:
401.
color:
white.
Verdealbara is yet another of the many vari-
eties sporting names related to the color green:
in Verdealbara's case the green hue of its ber-
ries is so pale that it recalls the color of the light
at dawn, hence its derivation from
verde
(green)
and
alba
(dawn). Grown mainly in the Vallaga-
rina of Trentino (where at the end of the
nineteenth century roughly two thousand
hectoliters of wine were made from it yearly),
it is sometimes confused with even lesser
known cultivars such as Wanderbara and
Maor. It has a small, compact bunch and is
harvested late in October. It is being actively
studied by the Istituto di San Michele all'Adige
and by the Vallarom estate, which located old
vines in the forest growing on its land. I've
liked what I have tried so far: experimental
microvinifi cations have shown high-acid, cit-
rusy wines with a future, as far as I am con-
cerned, as light aperitif wines or wines can be
where it's found:
Tu sc a ny.
national regis-
try code number:
not registered.
color:
white.
One of the many members of the “green
family” of grapes, Verduschia is less common
than Verdicchio or even Verdello, with which it
shares some common traits (though they ripen
at different times). Today it's found in the Luni-
giana area but as it is not offi cially recognized
by the legislature, clever growers label it
Verdello, which is a recognized and allowed
variety. The bunch is medium-small, pyrami-
dal, and winged, with medium-small, thick-
skinned, round berries. A recent study of
twenty-fi ve accessions of Verdicchio, Verdello,
and Verduschia at eleven SSR markers con-
cluded that as only one DNA profile was
obtained for all twenty-fi ve accessions, the three
varieties are identical (Crespan, Armanni, Da
Rold, De Nardi, Gardiman, Migliaro, et al.
2012). I have no doubts this is so, but as there
