Ep. 402 Sangiovese Lambrusco... | Pinot: le Roi c'est Moi!

Welcome to the Italian wine podcast. My name is Joy Living in. And for the next several weeks, I will be bringing you some choice narrated content from the book San Jose, Lambrusco, and other vine stories written by mister Science himself, Professor Atigio Shenza, and Serena Eimacio. Published by positive press dot net. To get a copy of the book, the kindle version is available on Amazon and hardcover copies are available from positive press. If you like the content we share each week, consider donating to our show. Find details at italian wine podcast dot com or on our social media channels. Sit back and get your geek on as we jump into the details stories and science of Italian wines and vines. Not only does the ancient city of Aatun in Burgundy preserve an important architectural heritage within its walls, but it is also probably Pina noir's place of origin. As seen from a document dated three twelve AD. The inhabitants of the town, thanks to the emperor Konstantin, refer to a vineyard called Pagos Arebrignos, that produced wines of such high quality that it became famous throughout the côte de Nuit. The historian's Gaston Hope Nell describes the rural landscape of burgundy during the presence of Rome in a nineteen thirty two volume and gives some details about the way in which that vineyard was cultivated. Helping us trace the varieties that were planted there even though as was customary at the time that they were never mentioned. The vegetation was almost inextricable, very old plants intertwined in a disorderly manner and multiplied in off shoots. This image recalls the so called Viticulture for protection in which the vines still with wild traits are subjected to the first processes of domestication. On the other hand, the shape of the leaf and the seed, the small size of the bunches, and the berries, the special taste of the must are all characteristics that bring the pinot closer to wild vines. If two clues were to constitute proof, the appearance of these plants and the fame of the vineyard due to its excellent wine, these hints tell us that those vines were pinot. But let's take a step back. After the fall of the Roman Empire, a period of economic and political decline followed lasting until the arrival of Charlemagne. Who decided to reassign the abandoned lands and allow monastic orders to claim them primarily benedictines. Thus, the recovery of old vineyards began But more than this, the creation of new vineyards began from the seeds recovered through the cross breeding, wild and otherwise, achieved in the old vineyards. It is therefore likely that it is thanks to the work of the monks and their activity of selection and dissemination that Pinot noir, although with other names finally sees the light. Pinot plays a leading role in the genesis of many other important grape varieties in your Pian Viticulture. Genetics has given a name to the children of Pino, but has not yet managed to clarify who came first, whether it was Pino or Treminer. What is certain is that the two varieties are linked by a first degree parent child relationship. For a long time, it was thought that Pino was a result of a wild cross between Thraminer and a variety called Pino Munier Miller in French named after the thick down on its leaves making them seem dirty with flour, an ancestral form of Pino. This hypothesis, however, was subsequently deemed invalid. The fall gets a little thinner when you start evaluating Pino's offspring. In the Burgundy region, there are fifteen descendants of this fine obtained by wild cross breeding with other oriental varieties. Among the most important in addition to chardonnay, there are melon and gamay, but genetic traces of pinot noir are curiously found in La Grain and Teroldigo. Typical of the Rotagliana plane ofrentino. One of the peculiar characteristics of this vine already brought to light by nineteenth century scholars Is its great versatility? In fact, there are more than fifty types of pinot, different in its foliage appearance, berry colors, juice, productivity, and earthiness. Veriability depends on the high frequency with which genetic changes appear in this vine. That in turn modify the expression of some genes responsible for the color of the berry. Just think of the white and gray pinot, the shape of the leaf, whole or lobed, or the bearing of the vegetation, erect or hanging. It is no coincidence that pinot Also because of its wide diffusion has taken on many different names over time, such as Plaver in Burgundy, Murillon, near Paris, Pergunda, and Klevna, in Germany, bourgogne, in Italy. The Peno noir we know today, however, is not the same as that of its origins. It took fifteen centuries of selection to arrive at the Peno clones that we cultivate today. The primitive forms prior to the tenth century were not very productive and were called nobla de Torren and Saranin noir del Jura. The reference to the morphological typology of Raminer Sabanian is evident. With the development of specialized commercial Viticulture, which took place at the end of the seventeenth century, forms of greater productivity and richness of color were introduced called alvernal and Cortyloid. In this case, the semantic reference is to chardonnay. It was only in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that the types that we know today and that are classified into various morphological groups first appeared in Burgundy, and then in Champagne. Just at the threshold of the arrival of Filoxera. Today complex classifications of the past are almost non traceable, and today's classification provides for two groups. The so called quality pinot noir with low production used for the production of red wines of burgundy and the productive ones used mainly in champagne. These are less colorful and more sensitive to the various forms of rot because of their compact bunch. Thank you for listening to this week's installment of Lambrozco and other vine stories. We hope you expanded your horizons and gave your brain cells an Italian wine workout. We'll see you again next Thursday and remember. The kindle version of the book is available on Amazon and hard cover copies are available from positive press dot net. 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