ITALY’S INDIGENOUS WINE GRAPES

All the major European grapes grow in Italy – Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and so on. But so do more than 1,000 other varieties, around 400 of which are approved for winemaking.

Nearly all of these are grown in Italy—sometimes in only a small part of Italy—and nowhere else. The English word for them is autochthonous or, to use the more mellifluous Italian, autoctono [oh-toke-TOE-no].

The present challenge for Italian winemaking, after having proved itself with wines such as Chardonnay and Merlot, is how to reintroduce the country’s many native grapes back into the bottle. Those grapes have always held the promise for Italian wine.

It’s All Greek to Italy
Three millennia ago, the Greeks dominated what is now called Italy (especially the south), but what then was called “Oenotria,” The Land of Wine. Just as today, vines grew all over Italy—most of them brought by the Greeks to this new land.

Many of the most famed indigenous grapes of Italy trace their roots directly back to the era of Magna Græcia. For example, the grape Aglianico [ah-LYAH-nee-koh], the great red grape of the south of Italy, is a corruption of ‘Ellenica, meaning “Greek” (Greek for “Greece” is ‘Ellas). A workhorse white grape, Greco di Tufo, means “the Greek grape grown in tufo (a type of soil).”

The grape name Malvasia [mal-vah-ZEE-ah] comes from the Greek city of Monemvásia. And Gaglioppo, the basis for the best reds of the region of Calabria (the “toe,” the area of Italy first called Oenotria), is of Greek origin. The Greeks were so fond of Gaglioppo that they awarded the Calabrese wine made of it to winners of their own Athenian Olympic Games. The first gold medals were made of wine, not awarded to it.

Aglianico
Perhaps the greatest of the native or indigenous grapes of Italy is Aglianico, both because in the several places where it grows, excellent wine is made of it, and because it has proven to be both versatile with food and long-lived. Its wines are rich and complex, full of aromas and tastes of ripe berries and dried cherries, with notes of chocolate and earth. Its tannins are robust and taut, though they become silky with age.

The Aglianico of Campania garners the most notice, where it is grown in the region of Irpinia, some 35 miles east of Naples. There, it makes Taurasi which benefits from the poor soils and lack of moisture by returning a wine intense in flavor and fat with fruit.

In Basilicata, Aglianico is the basis for Aglianico del Vulture [VOOL-too-ray], the vines pitched on the slopes of the ancient volcano, Vulture, high enough to temper the often torrid heat of the lowlands.

Aglianico’s natively high acidity suits it particularly well for the table. Any red meat is a fine match, as are sausages or cured meats, especially fatty ones. It also tastes delicious with mature, hard cheeses.

Other Autoctono (“Indigenous”) Wine Grapes
Carignano del Sulcis: From the Sulcis district in extreme southern Sardinia and known most widely as the Carignan of southern France. Originally used as a blending wine, refinements of it increasingly have impressed the international market. Sardinians make some of Italy’s best sheep’s milk cheeses and this would be a splendid match.

Fiano di Avellino: From good producers, this white from Campania is ripe with aromas of flowers and spice and full of the tastes of peaches and nuts. It tastes fantastic with bocconcini (small balls) of the local Mozzarella du Bufala.

Gaglioppo: Found throughout Calabria, but also in Abruzzo and Le Marche, giving a deeply-colored red that is sturdy and long-lived. The Calabrese are experts at cured pork and olive oil, both of which suit this wine splendidly.

Greco di Tufo: The name of Greco Bianco grown in Campania, producing a white wine that resembles a light Viognier: peachy, somewhat zesty, clean. A nice accompaniment to a classic pizza Margherita.

Inzolia: Quite perfumed and floral white grape of Sicily, making great strides in quality and also the foundation of a wine that has truly experienced a risorgimento, Marsala. A sure bet to accompany seafood, especially grilled versions.

Lagrein: A fat, plump red from Trentino-Alto Adige, low in tannin for all its rich, bitter cherry fruit (hinting at dark chocolate), and consequently very drinkable early on. In the SüdTirol, they drink this with speck, a sort of Westphalian ham. It’s a delicious combination.

Negroamaro: Like its name (which means “black and bitter), the wine is intensely dark, sturdy and offers a panoply of aromas and tastes that can extend from very ripe dark fruits to tar and damp earth. It dates from the 6th century B.C. and is found nearly exclusively in Puglia. Try it with dark foods: stews, black olives, grilled beef.

Nero d’Avola: Many hopes are pinned on this Sicilian native that makes a rich, soft but robust, mouth-filling, age-worthy red that takes well to a bit of oak. Sicilians drink this with fuller-fleshed grilled fish such as tuna.

Zibibbo: Arab in origin (and brought to Italy by them as a table grape) and grown only on the island of Pantelleria, just south of Sicily, generally making a semi-dry, aromatic sweet wine. Perfect with Sicilian-style desserts made of almonds, nougat, honey or nuts.