Vespolina, not to be catalogued as a medium grape!
Posted on: 29-06-2020 om 12:11:34
| Karina Imschoot
Trio of Vespolina
Some of most popular wine journalists are convinced Vespolina is the best native grape variety. Like all things worthwhile, it can be difficult: it is not the easiest grape to work with. However, producers are working more and more monovarietal wines with this grape as consumers are very interested in midweight, perfumed reds wines.
In fact, it is a very pity consumers only consider the Vespolina grape as a midweight grape as it represents so much more as being “hosted” in the mindset of the winelover in the midlevel category.
Vespolina can be characterized by very tough tannins, depending on how producers proceed in the vineyard and in the cellar. It is just here, through the way they produce their Vespolina, the difference is made by the success of the winegrower who will be exceeding normal level outside of the cellar on international markets. With a talented producer such as Enrico Crola, Franscesco Brigatti, Paride Chiovini are definitely, Vespolina can achieve halcyon heights that most other local varieties, can’t remotely aspire to. Perhaps the greatness of Vespolina can be explained by the fact that is is a progeny of Nebbiolo making it a half sibling of other Nebboilo prognernies.
Vespolina was first described by Acerbi (1825) and then by Gallesio (1817), who called it Vitis Vinidera Circumpadana, while today almost the only synonym used is Ughetta, or Uvetta di Canneto in Lombardy. With the advent of pholloxera, Vespolina cultivation declined, as Vespolina is less resistant than other varieties to disease and it adapted poorly to American roodstocks, with irregular grape ripening and production. As it is extremely subject to dissection of the spine, magnesium and potassium soil concentrations are very important and must be monitored closely, and the choice of rootstock is also very important.
This means also that the grapes have a tendency to start dehydrating directly on the vine; a welcome event when it happens just before the harvest (concentrating the aromas and flavors of pepper and red cherry), but an absolute nightmare when it occurs in August or so, because the grapes never recover and fail to ripen fully. It is a low-productivity variety, so green harvests aren’t especially necessary: a simple deleafing will be necessary to help the grapes reach optimal ripeness, but very deep fertile soils are best avoided because they hamper maturation.
Vespolina has always been used to make DOCG, DOC, and IGT blends of note. As it is blessed with plenty of polyphenols, monovarietal wines are both dark and tannic, and this explains why producers have always preferred using it as a blending agent rather than trying it solo. In Piedmont it is often blended with Nebbiolo, Croatina, and Uva Rara to make the world-class wines of Boca, Gattinara, Ghemme and Lessona. Other DOC wines worth hunting down are Bramaterra, Coste della Sesia, Colline Novarese, Fara, Oltrepo Pavese, and Sizzano. Most monovarietal are labeled Colline Novaresi.
While monovarietal versions are uncommon, they can increasingly be found, for Vespolina yields wines that are not only very intensely colored and tannic, but also perfumed and bright. Skin contact is kept short, roughly four to seven days at no more than 28 degrees, followed by 18 to 24 months in the barrel or the bottle to help soften the wine.
A well-made Vespolina is a thing of beauty and the three beauties we present are super well-made Vespolina’s. There are few red grape wines in the world that can make a wine seem like a red-fruit cocktail., and Vespolina is one of them. The best wines have aroma’s that are reminiscent of those made with made with Nebbiolo and Pinot Nero, but are usually more spicy. Hence, the wines have lightisch red colors, with penetratingly intense and pure sour red-cherry aromas, lifted by balsamic notes, roses, violets, and spices (cinnamon, marjoram, and white pepper, especially) on the nose, and mouthwatering acidity and juicy redberry flavors on the palate that will make you not want to put the glass down.
The pepper note can be pretty strong in Vespolina. A recent study showed that Vespolina wines are rich in rotundone, an aromatic molecule that smells of spices such as marjoram and rosemary. In fact, both herbs are rich in rotundone too.
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