Grape Groups and Families - Native Wine Grapes of Italy - page 40

Bernardo Gondi, a very well-respected viticul-
turalist and owner of the Marchese Gondi-Tenuta
di Bossi estate in the Rufi na area of Tuscany, cau-
tions against planting Colorino del Valdarno in
calcareous-rich soils, since in that case it fails to
ripen properly and yields next to nothing. How-
ever, Elisabetta Fagiuoli of the Sono Montenidoli
estate in San Gimignano points out that most
estates in Tuscany don't rely exclusively on Colo-
rino del Valdarno, but instead have a mix of Color-
ino s in their vineyards: “that was part of the
imaginative way of life of farmers back in the six-
ties,” she smiles. And countless nursery errors in
the years that followed the end of mezzadria, I
would add. In fairness, throughout history, farm-
ers have always hedged their bets, preferring to
plant different grape varieties in the same plots;
for example, growing both cultivars that ripen
early and others that ripen later puts them at an
advantage relative to the diverse and fickle
weather patterns of each vintage. Understanda-
bly, such habits have led to many different grape
varieties being planted close to each other in the
vineyards.
If you take a walk through the vineyards
come harvest time, when the grapes are on the
vine and are relatively ripe, you have some hope
of distinguishing between the four Tuscan
Colorino s by remembering just two facts. First,
Colorino Americano is the easiest to spot, as its
huge pentagonal, fi ve lobed, reddish-tinged leaf
is unmistakable. Second, both Colorino di
Lucca and Colorino di Pisa have reddish stalks
leading to the grape bunches, while those of
Colorino del Valdarno and Colorino Americano
remain green at all times.
Stefano Dini truly likes the Colorino s: “I
think some unique wines can be made, as some
old vintages of Colorino del Corno by Tenuta Il
Corno have shown,” he says. Dini has also
taught me all I needed to know about Colorino
clones but was afraid to ask:

tive. Instead, US FI PI10 is the easiest to fi nd
everywhere, as it's the most productive; COLORO
2000/8 has only recently become available and it
too seems a very stingy yielder. I have yet to use
the new Vitis clones but I have tasted microvinifi -
cations of the 801 and it seems to me to be the
richest in polyphenols. Of the VCR clones, I per-
sonally like to use the VCR64, which has better
vegetative balance than the VCR2, which is ham-
pered by bigger and more compact bunches.

I have been told more or less the same things by
other consulting viticulture and winemaking
experts. But Dini's particular affection for the
Colorino s may spring from memories of his
youth. “I remember that back in 2005, when I
was working in Australia at the Chalmers nur-
sery, I ran into a bunch of Colorino that had
been sent to us by mistake along with a load of
Sagrantino; I started working with it there, and
haven't stopped since. Today I help make the
wine Taffetà at the Poggiopiano estate and am
very happy with the results.” I have tasted many
vintages of the wine he mentions, and I can
vouch that it is excellent.

Which Wines to Choose and Why
Though Colorino s grow in Emilia-Romagna,
Liguria, Lazio, Marche, and Umbria, the Colorino-
Something varieties are essentially Tuscan. His-
torically, Colorino s have always been added to
Sangiovese wines to increase their color; in this
respect, Colorino s play the same role as do Caber-
net Sauvignon, Merlot, or Syrah, but they are a
more traditional, historically accurate choice.
Therefore there is often anywhere from 1 to 10
percent of a Colorino variety included in any
Chianti wine blend, especially those from
Classico and Rufi na. There are no 100 percent
pure “Colorino” DOC wines, but producers
have worked up the courage to bottle pure ver-
sions as Indicazione Geografi ca Tipica (IGTs)
and some are really interesting and fun to try. In
DOC wines—such as Tuscany's Montecarlo or
Umbria's Lago di Corbara— Colorino s play a small
part in the blends, and of course they also do so in
better-known wines like Chianti Classico, Chianti
Rufi na, and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano.

The most important thing to remember is that the
only clones available are of Tuscan Colorino s, and
all were selected from the higher quality Valdarno
type. Of these, N6 is not very popular: the bunch
and berries are too small and it's really not produc-