Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
grasp and remember, and for reasons still
unclear today, some crossings were named
with three numbers, the second of which was
always a zero. It is hypothesized that the zero
was used to identify crossings produced
between 1930 and 1935, as opposed to those cre-
ated in the 1920s, but nobody knows for sure.
In any case, with names like 6.0.13 and 2.15 you
can tell these wines were born in far less mar-
keting-oriented and media-savvy times.
Nevertheless, Incrocio Manzoni 6.0.13 has
proven a remarkable success. Now simply called
Manzoni Bianco, it was long believed to be a
crossing of Riesling and Pinot Bianco, but
recent genetic studies suggest that Chardonnay
may have been used instead of the latter. There
are two clones available of Manzoni Bianco,
both developed in 1992 and very similar: clone
ISMA-ISV 237 has slightly smaller berries and
is more compact than clone ISMA-ISV 222. It is
an extremely high-quality variety, one of the
world's few truly successful crossings, and
plantings are on the rise in Italy, with an aver-
age of thirty new hectares planted in each year
of the fi rst decade of the new century.
Manzoni Bianco is not the easiest of varie-
ties, however. Giorgio Cecchetto, best known
for his excellent Raboso wines, also makes a
very good Manzoni Bianco wine. “It's a pain,
really,” he says. “We have to harvest it as early as
late August or early September; it's hardly vig-
orous, and it produces scrawny bunches with
small and scarce berries. I remember a wine-
making colleague who had never seen Manzoni
Bianco, asking me one day if the vines were
about to die! And wait, it gets better: though
they are thick skinned, the berries are easily
sunburned, and so deleafi ng is out.” It was only
natural that I ask him why he ever bothered to
plant Manzoni Bianco in the first place.
“Because the wine's good,” was the reply.
gliano Bianco, while in the latter there are
excellent DOC Trentino wines that are pure
Manzoni Bianco. The success of the variety is
such that it has also been planted in Friuli Ven-
ezia Giulia, and in southern regions such as
Puglia and Sicily, though readers ought to know
that its presence is often not declared on labels
or information from producers. It is used to
spark up wines that sport the name of a usually
less interesting but better known or more
famous local native, adding zippy acidity and a
welcome delicate spiciness.
As Manzoni Bianco is a lightly aromatic
variety, its wines are fresh and crisp, and exude
intense fl oral and spicy aromas and fl avors
(white fl owers, white peach, green apple, white
pepper, lemongrass). In fact, the wine resem-
bles riesling to a startling degree; a lighter ries-
ling perhaps, but riesling nonetheless, which is
a lot more than can be said for other crossings
in which Riesling was one of the parents. Man-
zoni Bianco's aromas are only partly due to aro-
matic terpenes such as geraniol and linalool, as
gas chromatographic analysis have revealed
their concentrations to be fairly low (they are
highest when the variety is grown in warmer
sites). Nicolini, Versini, Moser, Carlin, and
Malossini (2003) have shown that, like Ries-
ling, with age Manzoni Bianco wines develop
kerosene-like notes due to an increase of free
1,1,6-trimethyl-1,2 dihydronaphthalene.
wines to try:
For Trentino, try: Istituto San
Michele all'Adige-Fondazione Mach*** (Tren-
tino Incrocio Manzoni) and Elisabetta Fora-
dori*** (Fontanasanta). For Veneto, try: Gior-
gio Cecchetto** (Marca Trevigiana), Conte
Collalto**, Sutto** (Campodipietra), and Ca'
Lustra** (Pedevenda; it's unfortunate that this
wine's name is also the name of a distinct culti-
var). Frassinelli* makes a good sparkling
version.
Which Wines to Choose and Why
Manzoni Bianco is found mainly in Veneto and
Trentino. In the former region, DOC Vicenza
wines can be 100 percent Manzoni Bianco, but
it is most often blended in DOC Colli di Cone-
Manzoni Rosso
where it's found:
Veneto.
national regis-
try code number:
109.
color:
red.
