Uvalino is a red Italian wine grape variety that is grown in the Piedmont wine region of northwest Italy. While the name uvalino means "small berries", ampelographers believe that the name may be derived from uvario which in the local Piedmontese dialect was used to denote wine grapes that were primarily minor blending varieties. [1]
In recent years, the high levels of the antioxidant resveratrol of Uvalino has brought attention to the grape due to its potential health benefits. [1] [2]
The first documented account of Uvalino was of the grape variety growing in the communes of Castelletto Molina and Nizza Monferrato in the province of Asti by botanist Giorgio Gallesio in 1831. In 2006, DNA analysis revealed that Uvalino has a likely parent-offspring relationship with the nearly extinct Piemontese grape Neretto di Marengo. [1]
Uvalino, itself, was on the verge of extinction until the late 20th century when winemaker Mariuccia Borio was inspired by wine made by famous Barolo winemaker Renato Ratti from a small planting of Uvalino at his Villa Pattono estate in La Morra in the province of Cuneo. Reminded of a wine from her childhood, Borio began working with Ratti and the Asti extension of the Institute of Experimental Viticulture (Istituto Sperimentale per la Viticoltura) of Conegliano Veneto to revive plantings of the grape variety. By 2002, their efforts got Uvalino placement on the official registry of Italian grape varieties. [1]
Uvalino is a late-ripening grape variety that can be very robust and resistant to many viticultural hazards such as botrytis bunch rot. Its low-sensitivity to many late season hazards like fungal infections allows growers to give the grapes long "hang time" on the vine before harvest to achieve more ripe phenolics flavors. [1]
Being only added to the official registry of Italian grape varieties in 2002, there is not yet an official census count of how many plantings of Uvalino there are in Italy. However, ampelographers believe that the grape is almost exclusively grown in the Piedmont region. [1]
According to Master of Wine Jancis Robinson, as a varietal, Uvalino tends to produce full-bodied wines with noticeable tannins and acidity levels with aromas of sweet spices and red fruits. [1]
Over the years, Uvalino has been known under a variety of synonyms including: Cunaiola (in Canavese), Freisone (in Tortona), Lambrusca (in Roero) and Lambruschino (in Roero). [1] However, the Vitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC) currently does not recognize any official synonyms for Uvalino but does note that Uvalino is used as synonym for the Italian wine grape Pistolino and Uvalino nero is a synonym for Croatina. [3] [4] [5]
Carignan is a red grape variety of Spanish origin that is more commonly found in French wine but is widely planted throughout the western Mediterranean and around the globe. Along with Aramon, it was considered one of the main grapes responsible for France's wine lake and was a substantial producer in jug wine production in California's Central Valley but in recent years, it has been reborn as a flagship wine for many cellars in the south of France as well as in Catalonia.
Barbera is a red Italian wine grape variety that, as of 2000, was the third most-planted red grape variety in Italy. It produces good yields and is known for deep color, full body, low tannins and high levels of acidity.
Arneis is a white Italian wine grape variety originating from Piedmont, Italy. It is most commonly found in the hills of the Roero, northwest of Alba, where it is part of the white Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) wines of Roero. It can also be used to produce DOC wines in Langhe. Arneis is so called because it is regarded as a somewhat difficult variety to grow. It is a crisp and floral varietal, and has been grown for centuries in the region. The white wines made from the Arneis grape tend to be dry and full bodied with notes of pears and apricots.
Uva Rara is a red Italian wine grape variety that is grown in the Piedmont and Lombardy wine regions of northern Italy. The grape is a permitted blending variety along with Nebbiolo in the Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) wines of Ghemme. In the Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) wine region of Oltrepò Pavese the grape is often blended with Barbera and Croatina. While Uva Rara's name means "rare grape" in Italian, the variety is actually widely planted with 608 hectares of the vine recorded in Italy in 2000.
Incrocio Manzoni or Manzoni grapes is a family of grape varieties named after Professor Luigi Manzoni (1888-1968) of Italy's oldest school of oenology located in Conegliano, in the Veneto region. Manzoni created the new grape varieties by selecting, crossing and grafting vines from various vineyards during the 1920s and 1930s. The family includes both white and red grape varieties. Although most Manzonis are grown in northeastern Italy, they are mainly grown in the Piave area of Province of Treviso and are only now starting to be sold commercially in Europe and the United States.
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.
Albaranzeuli bianco is a white Italian wine grape variety that is grown primarily in Sardinia. Ampelographers use to believe that the grape was originally Spanish in origin and was introduced to the island when it was ruled by the Crown of Aragon. Recent DNA profiling has suggested that the grape may have originated on the island as a crossing between the red Sardinian wine grape Girò and the Spanish table grape Molinera, known locally as Pansa Rosa di Málaga and distinct from the Veneto wine grape Molinara that is used in Amarone. A pink skinned grape known as Albaranzeuli nero is also found in Sardinia but its exact relationship to Albaranzeuli bianco is not yet clear.
Albarossa is a red Italian wine grape variety that was created in the Veneto wine region in 1938 by grape breeder Giovanni Dalmasso at the Istituto Sperimentale per la Viticoltura in Conegliano. Dalmasso originally thought he created the grape from a crossing of Nebbiolo and Barbera but DNA profiling in 2009 confirmed that the "Nebbiolo" vine used wasn't Nebbiolo at all but rather a very old French wine grape variety from the Ardèche, Chatus. The confusion stemmed from a synonym of Chatus, Nebbiolo di Dronero.
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.
Bouteillan noir is a red French wine grape variety that is grown in the Provence wine region of southern France. While the grape has been recorded growing in the Vaucluse region since at least the early 18th century, today the grape is virtually extinct. Despite sharing synonyms with another Provençal grape, Calitor, and the Languedoc wine grape Aramon noir, Bouteillan noir has no known relationship with either of those variety. The white Provençal grape Colombaud was once thought to be a white berried color mutation of Bouteillan noir but research conducted by Dr. Linda Bisson of the University of California, Davis shows that while the two grapes are likely related, one is not a color mutation of the other.
Canari noir is a red French wine grape variety that has been historically grown in the Ariège department in the foothills of the French Pyrénées. However DNA profiling in 2001 showed that plantings of a grape called Gamay Luverdon growing in the Italian wine region of Piedmont were in fact plantings of Canari noir. Across the Pyrénées in Spain, the grape variety known as Batista was also found to be identical to Canari noir. Like Pinot noir and Grenache, Canari noir has color mutations known as Canari blanc and Canari gris.
Catanese nero is a red Italian wine grape variety that is predominantly grown in Sicily. While ampelographers believe that grape likely originated in the shadow of Mount Etna in province of Catania on the east coast of the island, today it is mostly grown in the northwestern provinces of Agrigento, Palermo and Trapani. A minor blending variety used in rosé production, the grape is not currently permitted for use in any Denominazione di origine controllata classified wines.
Vermentino nero is a red Italian wine grape variety that is predominantly grown in province of Massa-Carrara in Tuscany. After World War II, the vine was almost lost to extinction until Podere Scurtarola, a producer from Massa, began replanting old vineyards with the grape. By 2000, there were 199 hectares of Vermentino nero growing in Italy with the grape authorized for production in the Denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) wines of Candia dei Colli Apuani and Colline Lucchesi.
Cascarolo bianco is a white Italian wine grape variety that is grown primarily in the Piedmont wine region of northwest Italy. The grape has a long history in the region and was noted in 1606 by Giovanni Battista Croce, vineyard owner and official jeweler to Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy, as growing in the hills around Torino and producing wine of high esteem. It was once thought that Cascarolo bianco was the same variety as the Hungarian wine grape Fehér Gohér but DNA profiling in the early 21st century determined that the two grapes are unrelated. Today ampelographers believe that the grape is an offspring of the Swiss wine grape Rèze with DNA evidence suggesting some relationship with another white Piedmontese grape, Erbaluce.
Pallagrello nero is a red Italian wine grape variety that is grown in Campania. The grape has a long history in the region and, like the similarly named Pallagrello bianco, was one the varieties planted in 1775 by architect and engineer Luigi Vanvitelli in the fan-shaped Vigna del Ventaglio vineyard created for the royal palace of King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies in Caserta. Following the phylloxera epidemic of the mid-19th century and the economic devastation of the World Wars of the early 20th century, plantings of Pallagrello nero declined greatly and the variety was thought to be extinct until it was rediscovered growing in an abandoned Campanian vineyard in the 1990s.
San Giuseppe nero is a red Italian wine grape variety that is grown in central Italy where it is a permitted variety in the Indicazione geografica tipica (IGT) wines of the Lazio region. Some plantings of the grape can be found in southern Italy which combined with the central Italy plantings gave San Giuseppe nero a total of 387 hectares reported in the official 2000 Italian viticultural census.
Luglienga is a white Italian wine and table grape variety that is grown across Europe. The grape has a long history of use, dating back to at least the 14th century in Piedmont but is today most seen a table grape that is occasionally used for home winemaking.
Barbera del Sannio is a red Italian wine grape variety that is grown in the Campania region of southern Italy. Despite the similarities in name and appearance, the grape has no close genetic relationship with the Piedmont wine grapes Barbera or Barbera bianca or the Sardinian wine grape Barbera Sarda and is, instead, more closely related to the Campanian varieties Casavecchia and Catalanesca and the Apulian grape Nero di Troia.
Barsaglina is a red Italian wine grape variety that is grown in Tuscany and Liguria where it most often used to add color and tannins to blends. Some ampelographers speculate that grape may be related to Sangiovese due to morphological similarities. Barsaglina was near extinction until a Tuscan wine producer, Paolo Storchi, help revive the variety by making it a significant component of his red Indicazione Geografica Tipica (IGT) Toscana blend. The grape is also permitted to be used in the Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) wines of Colli di Luni.
Bianchetta Trevigiana is a white Italian wine grape variety that is grown in the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol and Veneto wine regions of northeast Italy. Here the grape is rarely used a varietal but, instead, is a permitted blending grape adding acidity to the wines of several Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) zones including the sparkling wine Prosecco and has also been used for vermouth production. The name Trevigiana is derived from the province of Treviso where the grape is believed to have originated from.