Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Gosen
siderable promise. A mainly teroldego-cabernet
sauvignon blend by Dorigati (called 1858) con-
tains small percentages of Gosen.
where it's found:
Trentino.
national regis-
try code number:
367.
color:
red.
Gosen was believed to be a Cabernet Franc ×
Marzemino crossing obtained by Rebo Rigotti
in 1948 and originally listed as Incrocio Rigotti
123-4. Thanks to modern microsatellite test-
ing, we now know that Gosen is most likely a
Carmenère × Teroldego crossing (Roncador,
Malossini, Grando, Mattivi, Nicolini, and Ver-
sini 2002), two varieties that have had their
shares of misidentifi cations in Italy. Italy's Car-
menère was until very recently thought to be
Cabernet Franc (in fact, practically all “Caber-
net Franc” planted before the 1980s in Italian
vineyards is Carmenère). The Marzemino-Ter-
oldego mix-up echoes that endured by Dal-
masso, with Chatus (or Nebbiolo di Dronero)
being misidentified for the real Nebbiolo;
Rigotti's people somehow mixed up Marze-
mino with Teroldego. The crossing was
renamed Gosen in honor of Olimpio Gosen, a
collaborator of Rigotti who was also in charge of
the experimental station of the Fondazione
Mach (previously known as the Istituto Agario
di San Michele all'Adige). Gosen was originally
planted at the experimental vineyard of the
Fondazione Mach in 1953 and then propagated
along with a few other of the more promising
incroci
to another vineyard near Pozza in 1964.
Gosen has a medium-sized, relatively
loosely packed bunch and is a regular producer;
it ripens about a week later than Rebo. The
wines, which I have not yet tasted, are said to be
very
bordelais
in their makeup, with a refi ned
Cabernet-like aroma and fl avor, and a strong
herbal note. Gosen is allowed in IGT blends
such as Delle Venezie, Vallagarina, and Vigneti
delle Dolomiti. Gosen has adapted very well to
Sicilian
terroirs
and represents another card the
island's producers have to play (Sparacio, Prin-
zivalli, Genna, Sparla, Capraro, Melia, and
Verzera 2010). Gosen ripens in the last week of
September in the area around Palermo and
though it does not seem to be particularly pro-
ductive in Sicily, the wines appear to hold con-
Incrocio Bruni 54
where it's found:
Marche, Emilia-Romagna,
Tu sc a ny, Umbr i a .
national registry code
number:
108.
color:
white.
Created in 1936 by ampelographer Bruno
Bruni by crossing Sauvignon Blanc with Ver-
dicchio (it was his fi fty-fourth try, hence the
number 54 in the variety's name), this is a
high-quality white grape that is beginning to
make a timid comeback as a source of good,
fresh, perfumed white wines. It was also Bru-
ni's most successful crossing as it's the one still
being used to make wine today, albeit in small
quantities. However, in the 2010 study by
Cipriani, Spadotto, Jurman, Di Gaspero, Cres-
pan, Meneghetti, et al., the parentage of Incro-
cio Bruni 54 (the authors call it Selezione Bruni
in their paper) was found to be Aleatico and
Lacrima, which seems unlikely to me, if for no
other reason that those two are both red varie-
ties. Of course, white grapes can be born from
red grapes, and so more research is needed on
the parentage of Incrocio Bruni 54.
Incrocio Bruni's bunch is medium-sized,
usually loosely packed and pyramid shaped; the
berries are medium-large and round. It was
abandoned because it doesn't produce many
grapes (there are many bunches but few grapes,
neatly differentiating it from Sauvignon Blanc)
and yields are always naturally low. Consultant
winemaker Giancarlo Soverchia knows this
variety well and makes wine with it at the Ter-
racruda estate. He recalls selecting old vines
roughly ten years ago and propagating them to
a vineyard; but once the farmer who tended the
vineyard saw just how little grape production
there was, he wanted nothing more to do with
the variety. It is used to make the DOC wine
Colli Maceratesi and IGT blends such as Alle-
rona, Cannara, Costa Toscana, Marche, and
Spello, but is grown mainly in the Marche, in
the hinterland not far from Ancona. The wine
