Roussin de Morgex

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Roussin de Morgex
Grape (Vitis)
Color of berry skinPink
Also calledRossano Rosso
OriginItaly
Notable regions Valle d'Aosta
VIVC number 22741

Roussin de Morgex (sometimes known as Rossano Rosso in Italy) is an Italian grape variety, native to the western part of Valle d'Aosta in the municipality of Morgex. [1] It is a pink-skinned teinturier grape that produced a light pink juice. Although it may by used as one of the autochthonous varieties allowed in the red DOC wine from the region, Valle d'Aosta Rosso, in 2010 it was not cultivated commercially; according to wine writer Ian D'Agata nobody had made wine from it in 300 years. [2] Since then, small experimental plantings have been made, and a subsequent 20 bottle batch of pink sparkling wine produced by Cave Mont Blanc in 2014 showed sufficient promise to spur further research and planting. [3]

Contents

Origin

Roussin de Morgex belongs to a group of grape varieties geographically isolated in the Alpine regions of Italy and Valais, in Switzerland. DNA analyses suggest that while unrelated to Roussin, it is related to the Prié variety, and more distantly to Rèze, from the Swiss Alps. [4]

Further reading

Related Research Articles

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Aosta Valley An autonomous region of Italy

The Aosta Valley is a mountainous autonomous region in northwestern Italy. It is bordered by Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France, to the west, Valais, Switzerland, to the north, and by Piedmont, Italy, to the south and east. The regional capital is Aosta.

Nebbiolo Variety of grape

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Trebbiano Variety of grape

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Aglianico Variety of grape

Aglianico is a black grape grown in the southern regions of Italy, mostly Basilicata and Campania. It is considered with Sangiovese and Nebbiolo to be one of the three greatest Italian varieties. Aglianico is sometimes called "The Barolo of the South" due to its ability to produce highly refined, complex fine wines like the famous Piedmont wine, Barolo.

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Barbaroux Variety of grape

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Morgex Comune in Aosta Valley, Italy

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Ancellotta is a wine grape variety mainly grown in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, but also in some other parts of north Italy, and in south Switzerland.

Valle dAosta DOC

The Valle d'Aosta DOC is an Italian denominazione di origine controllata located in the Aosta Valley of northwest Italy. Surrounded by the Alps, the Valle d'Aosta is home to the highest elevated vineyards in all of Europe. The principal winemaking region of the Valle d'Aosta is found along the eastern banks of the Dora Baltea river with the city of Aosta serving as the central winemaking location. The region is divided into three main vineyard areas; the upper valley, Valdigne, the central valley and the lower valley,. To the south is the winemaking region of Piedmont. The Valle d'Aosta is Italy's smallest winemaking region both in terms of size and production with only about 330,000 cases produced annually in the region and only 36,000 cases produced under the DOC label. Seventy five percent of the area's production is red wine made mostly from the Pinot noir, Gamay and Petit Rouge varieties. A white wine is made from the indigenous Prié blanc grape by the cooperative of Blanc de Morgex et de La Salle.

Humagne Blanche or Humagne is a white Swiss wine grape planted primarily in the Valais region. The total Swiss plantations of the variety in 2009 stood at 30 hectares.

Brugnola is a red Italian wine grape variety that is grown in the Lombardy wine region of Valtellina. While historically, Brugnola was thought to be a local synonym for Emilia-Romagna wine grape Fortana, DNA analysis has shown that the two grapes are distinct variety and that, instead, Brugnola shares a close genetic relationship with the Piedmont wine grape Nebbiolo.

Petit Rouge Variety of grape

Petit Rouge is a red Italian wine grape variety that ampelographers believe is indigenous to the Valle d'Aosta region of northwest Italy. However, there is some confusion about whether Petit Rouge is the same variety as the red Swiss wine grape Rouge de Valais.

Vien de Nus Variety of grape

Vien de Nus is a red Italian wine grape variety that is grown primarily in the Valle d'Aosta DOC. It is particularly associated with the town of Nus where it is the primary grape in the Nus Rosso wine of the region. Outside of this region, the grape is rarely found elsewhere and is nearly extinct.

Neyret is a red Italian wine grape variety that is grown in the mountainous Valle d'Aosta wine region of northwest Italy though most plantings are in the slightly less mountainous terrain of southeast Aosta Valley bordering the Piedmont wine region. DNA profiling has confirmed that the variety is a Vitis vinifera crossing of Mayolet and Roussin.

Rossola nera is a red Italian wine grape variety that has been growing in the Valtellina region of Lombardy since at least the 17th century. In 2004 DNA profiling determined that the grape has a parent-offspring relationship with the Piedmont wine grape Nebbiolo though which variety is the parent and which is the offspring is not yet clear. However, most ampelographers believe that Nebbiolo is likely the parent variety since written records in Piedmont have noted Nebbiolo being grown since at least the 13th century.

Prié blanc Variety of grape

Prié blanc is a white Italian wine grape variety that is grown almost exclusively in the Valle d'Aosta DOC of northwest Italy. The Valle d'Aosta varietal wine Blanc de Morgex et de La Salle is made from Prié blanc grapes.

Vuillermin is a red Italian wine grape variety grown along the border of Switzerland in the Aosta Valley of northwest Italy. First documented under the name Vuillermin in 1890, the grape was virtually extinct until it was discovered by ampelographers at the Institut Agricole Régional of Aosta growing in isolated vineyards in communes of Châtillon and Pontey.

Bonda is a red Italian wine grape variety that is grown in the Aosta Valley region of northwest Italy around the communes of Châtillon and Quart. Historically the grape has been confused with another grape of Aosta, Primetta, but DNA analysis in the early 21st century showed that the two grapes were distinct and not closely related. Despite being known under the synonym of Prié rouge, Bonda is not a color mutation of Prié blanc nor do the two grapes seem to be closely related.

Prunesta is a rare native Italian red wine grape variety. According to Ian D'Agata in Native Wine Grapes of Italy: "It has a midium-sized, very stocky, pyramidal, winged bunch, with large, oval, blue-black berries." It is a component of 10 Calabrian IGT wines, primarily in the Province of Reggio Calabria and the Province of Crotone.

References

  1. Galet, Pierre (2000). Dictionnaire encyclopédique des cépages (in French). Hachette Pratique. ISBN   9782012363311.
  2. Gray, W. Blake (21 February 2017). "Tasting the world's rarest wine grape". The Gray Report. Retrieved 2018-06-29.
  3. d'Agata, Ian (19 June 2018). "Mountain Magic: The Wines of Valle d'Aosta". Vinous. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  4. Vouillamoz, José F.; Schneider, Anna; Grando, M. Stella (August 2007). "Microsatellite analysis of Alpine grape cultivars (Vitis vinifera L.): alleged descendants of Pliny the Elder's Raetica are genetically related" (PDF). Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution. 54 (5): 1095–1104. doi:10.1007/s10722-006-9001-z.