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ALEATICO
Origins:
Grape variety already cited by Pier De' Crescenzi (1303). There has been
some disagreement as concerns its origins: there are those who believe it
originates from Greece, and those who consider it most likely a Tuscan
variety, probably obtained through a dark-berried mutation of the black
muscat.
Characteristics:
Large pentagonal and orbicular leaf, tri-lobed, smooth, dark green face.
Small, elongated loose cluster, with a single shoulder. Medium-sized,
discoid berry, very irregular in shape, transparent, blue vermilion skin,
with a heavy bloom.
Aleatico is generally cultivated on the Isle of Elba, and the result is a
delicious dessert wine.
Productivity: Medium and
constant.
Maturation: from the 20th to
the 30th of September
CANAIOLO
NERO
Origins:
of uncertain origins, although it has been known for centuries. The grape
variety appears as Vitis Vinifera Etrusca and Canajuola in Pier de
Crescenzi's "Opus Commodorum Ruralium" (Treatise on the Rural Management),
first published towards 1303.
Along with Sangiovese, it was, in the century between 1870 and 1970, the
basis of the blend of Chianti Classico, the other Chianti-style wines
produced in a substantial part of the territory of Tuscany, and of Vino
Nobile di Montepulciano.
Characteristics:
Small to medium-sized leaf
with five lobes, sometimes with three lobes, with an upper surface marked by
veins, opaque and dark green in color. Medium-sized clusters, some what
loosely put together, squat, and pyramid shaped, with one or two shoulders
or side bunches with a sparse distribution of grapes. Medium-sized,
sub-round berries, regular in shape, fairly thick skin, blue or sometimes
violet in color, with a rich bloom.
Less
intense and structured than Sangiovese, it compensates with much aromatic
elegance, a direct and expressive fruitiness, and a lovely softness of
texture. When cultivated to give the proper body and concentration, it gives
a wine of much individual character, one with a personality that is
immediately distinctive and perceptible and with good length and persistence
on the palate.
Productivity: medium
to abundant, although inconstant.
Maturation: fairly late,
towards the end of September.
CILIEGIOLO
Origins:
Of uncertain origin, even if it appears to have reached
Tuscany from Spain in 1870. The
first documented references to the variety are from the early 17th century
when the Florentine writer Soderini described a "Ciregiuolo dolce" with a
long bunch, a somewhat large berry, and a sweet - "dolce" - and fragrant
flavor. This description of the physical characteristics of the variety
corresponds to present-day Ciliegiolo, as does the observation that the
grape does best in notably warm climates.
The variety has aroused new interest and attention since the late 1980's and
early 1990's as new wines, made with an altogether different approach, began
to demonstrate that the grape could reach new, and unexpectedly high
quality, levels. The grape is used to blend with for example Sangiovese, but
has also been used on its own giving startlingly different results: wines of
important size and weight, warm, generous, long, and authoritative.
Characteristics:
Average to large leaf,
pentagonal, with either three lobes or five lobes, upper surface smooth and
dark green. The cluster is large, fairly compact or compact, long
cylindrical, pyramid shaped, with side bunches. The berries are
medium-large, round or slightly round, skin of average thickness, of a black
to purple color, with a heavy bloom.
Productivity: Abundant
and consistent.
Maturation: Second half of
August.
COLORINO
Origins:
Of remote origin, probably
derived from the selection of some wild grape vines. Widely grown in
Tuscany, in the area of Valdarno, Val d'Elsa and in the Val di Pesa. Its
name comes from the deep color of the skin.
Characteristics:
Orbicular leaf, occasionally pentagonal, average, small
leaf, three lobes or five lobes, with an upper surface which is lightly
crimped and dark green. The clusters are small to average sized, slightly
loose, cone-shaped, with side bunches or one or two shoulders. The berries
are small-to-medium sized. The skin is thick, of a blackish to deep purple
color, rich with bloom.
Colorino is generally used to blend with other varieties. It gives, as the
name suggests, a good color to the wine.
Productivity: about average
but consistent.
Maturation: last ten days of
September.
MALVASIA
BIANCA LUNGA
Origins:
a vine variety which has been
cultivated for several centuries and is widely grown on the Chianti hills,
from where it is held to originate.
Characteristics:
average sized to large leaf,
pentagonal, with five lobes, with a smooth upper surface, of a deep green
color. It has large clusters, compact, elongated, pyramid shaped, normally
with two side bunches. Medium to small sized berries, spherical, regular
form; with a skin which is resistant to breaking, with a straw yellow color
with greenish streaks or golden yellow, with a rich bloom.
The use of Malvasia Bianca is today limited (since white grapes are no
longer allowed in the Chianti Classico docg) to very few wines, but it is
elementary to the traditional Tuscan dessert wine, Vin Santo, which is made
also with Trebbiano Toscano.
Productivity: Abundant
and consistent.
Maturation: First ten days of
September.
PRUGNOLO
GENTILE (SANGIOVESE GROSSO)
Origins:
Its origins can be traced back
to the Sangioveto variety, which it differs from in some aspects. It is held
to be indigenous to the commune of Montepulciano, in the province of Siena
and was already described in the 18th Century as "Pigniuolo Rosso".
Characteristics:
Medium-sized leaf, with five lobes, and a smooth upper
surface. The clusters are medium-sized, in the shape of an elongated
cylinder. The clusters are compact and have side bunches. The berries are
medium-large, and ovoid. The skin of the berries is thin but resistant to
breaking, of a blue-purplish color, covered with a rich bloom.
The Prugnolo Gentile/Sangiovese Grosso or "Brunello" grape is fundamental to
the areas of Montalcino and Montepulciano and is now also being cultivated
in several other areas of Tuscany. Comparted
to the Sangiovese Piccolo, the Sangiovese Grosso has larger, more loosely
bunched grapes, and thicker grape skins.
Maturation: End of September,
beginning of October.
 SANGIOVESE
(SANGIOVESE PICCOLO)
Two
families of Sangiovese grapes are known:
1) One with a large berry or which is also called dolce (sweet) and gentile
(well-bread), whose synonyms are indeed Sangiovese Grosso, Prugnolo Gentile,
Brunello di Montalcino.
2) The other family has small berries, and is also called forte (strong) or
montanino (Tuscan for from the mountain and sometimes meaning rough) and
among the various synonyms, Cordisco, Morellino, Uva Tosca, Primutico, San
Vicetro, Sangiovese dal Cannello Corto di Predappio.
This Sangiovese is the variety that is mainly used for the Chianti wines.
The name of the Sangiovese red grape is thought to be derived from "sanguis
Jovis" meaning "the blood of Jove (Jupiter)."Origins:
the Sangiovese is one of the
most ancient Italian grape varieties, and is certainly one of the most
widely grown as well as the grape which quality-wise offers the best wines
in Italy. All ampelographers agree that the grape originated in Tuscany.
Characteristics:
medium-sized leaf, longer than
wide, with five or three lobes, the upper surface is smooth and hairless, of
a light green color. The cluster is of medium-large sized, but also can also
be small according to the variety, compact, taking a cylindrical-pyramid
form, winged with one or two side bunches. Medium-sized berries, flattened,
almost ellipsoid, with a substantial skin, of a blackish-purple color with a
heavy bloom.
Productivity: Considerable.
Maturation: First half of
October.
TREBBIANO TOSCANO
 Origins:
the grape variety is of
Etruscan origin. Trebbiano Toscano, perhaps the most important of the many "Trebbiani",
already cited Pliny the Elder, as "Trebulanum", perhaps owes its name to the
site of the same name of ancient Etruria, near Luni, at the border between
Liguria and Tuscany or the Trebbia River of the Piacentini Hills. This is
among the most widely grown grape varieties at the national level even if it
finds chiefly grown in Tuscany, Lazio and Umbria
Characteristics:
medium-large leaf, pentagonal, with five leaves,
hairless, upper surface, of an opaque, green color. Large clusters, (7-10
inches) (18-25 cm.) long, semi-compact, with side bunches. Medium-sized
berries, discoid, of a rather regular shape; of average resistance to
breakage, of a greenish yellow or pinkish yellow in color, according to the
clones, with a more or less heavy bloom.
Trebbiano used to be one of the varieties that were blended into the Chianti
Classico wines, but is now it goes into the simpler Chiantis, to make light
white wines, and a fundamental variety in the Tuscan Vin Santo.
Productivity: very
prolific and consistent.
Maturation: first three weeks
of October.
VERNACCIA DI SAN GIMIGNANO
Origins:
even if the first
documentation we have goes back to the year 1276, it is certain that it was
previously imported either from the Cinque Terre region (Liguria), or from
Spain or Greece. The Vernaccia di San Gimignano wine was praised by Sante
Lancerio, cellar man of the Pope Paolo III and celebrated in the verses by
Francesco Redi. It has become popular again only in the past few decades.
Recent studies tend to show a clear distinction between this variety and
Vernaccia varieties. The name Vernaccia derives from the Latin word "vernaculus"
which means "of the place", or "site".
Characteristics:
orbicular or pentagonal shaped
leaf, of average size, with three lobes. It has a large cluster, with a
semi-compact elongated, aspect with pyramid like form, sometimes with side
bunches. The medium-sized berries are almost discoid, round, with a skin of
average thickness, and normally of a yellowish-green color.
The Vernaccia grape is exclusively grown in the San Gimignano region, hence
the name of the grape and the wine match.
Productivity: Abundant and
constant.
Maturation: September.
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