Great autochthonous grape varieties

The third and final day of the Roma food&wine Festival was focused on autochthonous or indigenous grape varieties, that is to say those which were originated and which evolved in the territory in which they are now to be found or in the areas in which they found their home a very long time ago. The 56 wineries selected by the Merano WineFestival presented 198 wines vinified with 55 different grape varieties: from Sicily’s Zibibbo to Calabria’s Gaglioppo, from Puglia’s Greco to Abruzzo’s Montepulciano, from Campania’s Aglianico to Lazio’s Cesanese, from Marche’s Verdicchio to Emilia Romagna’s Grasparossa, from Veneto’s Rondinella to Friuli Venezia Giulia’s Pignolo, from Alto Adige’s Gewürztraminer to Trentino’s Teroldego, from Tuscany’s Sangiovese to Liguria’s Vermentino Nero.

The first guided wine tasting was dedicated to a local red grape variety from Friuli, in particular from the hilly area of Buttrio Cividale (Udine), namely Tazzelenghe. Vinified by itslef, it shows lots of character, intensity and a wide and pleasant bouquet. It has a long ageing potential. Interesting fact: because of its high quantity of tannins, in the dialect of Friuli it is called tàce-lenghe, that is to say tongue-cutting.

The second wine tasting, run and guided by oenologist Emiliano Falsini and agronomist Stefano Dini, both experts and members of the Matura group, was dedicated to some unknown indigenous grape varieties: thanks to its historical and cultural content, it was certainly the most interesting one. Starting from the tasting of a Trebbiano Spoletino from Umbria, which had a winning freshness, nose and body: according to experts and opinion leaders, it is certainly one of Italy’s best wines made with white grapes.

The Caricante from Etna was also impressive: a thoroughbred with a very unique quality. The two rosé wines, a Gamay from lake Trasimeno in Umbria and a Cerasuolo from Sicily, were appreciated thanks to their particular portray of the territory. The attention then moved to two very remarkable wines: the first made with Nerello Mascalese grapes from Sicily, the second with Malvasia Nera from Tuscany. Both had character and personality, and finely portrayed the territory from which they come, as did the two following wines: Colorino and Ciliegiolo from Tuscany, and Nocera from Sicily.

Finally we had a world preview of a red grape variety from Umbria, namely Grero. This is a unique and remarkable variety, which will certainly become a protagonist in the future. The worthy conclusion to the great autochthonous wines of the Roma food&wine Festival, a symbolic chapeau to all the producers.