Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
grapevines were fi rst brought to southern Italy
by Greek colonists, sometimes on the heels of
wines imported from Greece. However, it's not
so simple: many other grapes that never graced
Greek soils were named “greco” too, because
they were used to make wines in the “Greek
style”: sweet and resinous, made by concentrat-
ing the musts via cooking, adding resin, or air-
drying the grapes. In fact, we know from mod-
ern genetic studies that many of southern
Italy's grape varieties are not related to any
found in Greece today (Scienza 2004; Crespan,
Cabello, Giannetto, Ibanez, Karoglan Kontic,
Maletic, et al. 2006b).
The individual
Greco
s were originally dif-
ferentiated either by adding a reference to their
color, hence Greco Giallo (Yellow Greco) or
Greco Bianco (White Greco), or to their town
of origin, hence Greco d'Ischia, di Tufo, di
Napoli, del Vesuvio, della Torre. Of course,
having witnessed the popularity and sales of
Greco wines, producers and innkeepers
weren't below endowing just about any grape
and wine with the “greco” moniker; varieties
could even be awarded Greco-sounding names
like Grecanico and the various
Grechetto
s. The
result was a proliferation of Greco wines and
grapes: but most of these “Greco-Something”
varieties are unrelated to one another. Rather
than a family, the
Greco
s are a group of grapes
sharing the same name and very little else;
unlike other groups of grape varieties, such as
the
Malvasia
s (members of which are found all
over Europe), most
Greco
s are planted only in
small pockets of the Italian countryside. Still,
there are times when you'll feel like each
pocket seems to hold its very own
Greco.
In
Calabria alone there are at least four different
so-called Greco Biancos and fi ve Greco Neros;
and though locals, in very Italian fashion, dif-
ferentiate between these varieties by giving
each a specifi c place name (Greco Nero di
Sibari, Greco Nero di Scilla, etc . . . ), Italian
law no longer allows place names for grape
varieties, limiting their use for Italian wines.
Besides, genetic analysis has proven many
such grapes aren't
Greco
s at all.
The most famous and best-known of all Ital-
ian
Greco
varieties is simply called Greco, and it
is the one with which the world-famous Greco
di Tufo wine is made. (Note that contrary to
some wine writers' practice, Greco di Tufo is
the wine, and not the grape variety: the correct
name of the grape with which this famous wine
is made is simply Greco.) The other main white
“
Greco”
variety in Italy is the outstanding Greco
Bianco of Calabria, a grape used to make both
greco di Gerace and, confusingly, greco di
Bianco (Bianco and Gerace are towns in Cala-
bria). Of course, wouldn't you know it: thanks
to SSR profi ling, Greco Bianco has been proven
to be identical to Malvasia di Lipari, so it
appears to be yet another variety named
Greco
that is not a true Greco either (Crespan, Cabello,
Giannetto, Ibanez, Karoglan Kontic, Maletic, et
al. 2006b; see MALVASIA DI LIPARI entry).
However, since the “Greco Bianco” variety has
been around for centuries (indeed, it's one of
Italy's most ancient cultivars), use of this name
has become so engrained it's hard to get people
to give it up. Add to this that many don't even
accept the study results that prove Greco Bianco
to be Malvasia di Lipari, and it's all quite a
mess. What's more, in Calabria there are many
different varieties called Greco Bianco, depend-
ing on the part of the region, and most of these
are quite distinct from one another.
Greco
where it's found:
Campania, Lazio, Puglia,
Tu sc a ny.
national registry code number:
97.
color:
white.
One of Italy's most famous wine grapes,
given its association with the important Greco
di Tufo wine, Greco is very recognizable, due to
its extremely opulent, almost cascading appear-
ance and bright yellow berries lightly speckled
with brown dots. With at least one huge wing
dripping down the side, the bunch looks as if
it's been doubled, causing many experts (the
fi rst to go on record was Carlucci in 1909) to
think Greco was Aminea Gemini Minor
(according to Carlucci, the
major
was a cultivar
