Ep. 412 Sangiovese Lambrusco... | Syrah

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 Eimaccio. 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. Sarah, when names can be misleading. Sirai was born in the nineteenth century. In fact, this vine still has the same denomination today. It is used to describe the vine which was born in the middle of the century. In fact, it was officially adopted when the first Ampelegraphic collections in France were created. Before then, the vine was called Serene and was often confused with mondeuse called or protocida, but also person until the end of the eighteenth century. Many different laws have arisen around the origins of this vine and it was only recently, though not exhaustively, that they found convincing scientific answers in molecular biology. It is also worth retracing the historical path that accompanied this vine from its origins to what is traditionally considered its second cradle, the mid stretch of their own. History tells us that in twelve twenty four, the nobleman gaspard, the steinberg, Returning from the crusades took Sierra with him from Cyprus to Taine, a town watered by the French river. This narration seems likely all the more so if we compare it with the similar ones of mondeurs and Altesse, a white vine very similar to Fermint, which also came from Cyprus to Hungary with the Templars. Introduced by the Savoy family in the thirteenth century at the foot of the western Alps. A hypothesis less documented is that Sara is the so called Alobrozica Vine. Named after the Celtic people, the Alobroji, who lived in the region between Lake Geneva and the Rome. It was praised by many Latin writers because it provided imperial Rome with a very famous wine. It was called Picato after the taste of pitch or tar. This is the so called gudron aroma of many aged wines such as roan wines But also Barolo. A very complex descriptor of the wine's bouquet that recalls spicy, toasted, and licorice notes resulting from the transformation of some chemical compounds of the berry skin during aging. Linguistics offers us a fascinating possibility as to the origin of this vine. The Indo European root ser, in fact, could indicate both the late character of ripening present for example in the Latin, Cerros, precisely late. Also highlighted by Marshall in the second century AD, and the designation of the place of cultivation interpreted as A plane at the foot of the mountains. This second meaning would support the identification of Sara with the Albania grape variety, Shesh native to the region of Dures. In a wine growing landscape similar to that of the media of France, to which the prefix ser is referred to. In addition, in Albania, a large group of vines has considerable genetic proximity to sera and is called perhaps not by chance. Sireen. The first evidence of sera in Italy dates back to eighteen twenty eight. When it appeared in the collection of the Amplographer, Giuseppe Acherbi from Angela, under the name of Grozain or Hermitage. About fifty years later, the count of Robacenda and the Marquis in Chiza Delaroceta described the grape variety in Pemonte as Serein Sara and Sierra del Ermitageo. In Sicily, Barron Mendola, in eighteen sixty eight indicated the vine in the catalog logo of his collection only with the term Sierra. Apparently, this is a late arrival compared to what we saw with many other varieties. But in assessing the sources, we must remember that as already mentioned above, it is simply the name Sara that appears in the mid nineteenth century. It is likely that the presence of Sara in Italy was earlier but under different names In fact, it is plausible that in Piamonte, in that area where it was first cultivated that it was cultivated using the wrong names. Baragiola and the Neretta de Saloso. The first indications on its agronomic behavior and on the qualitative aptitudes of the vine are given by Mondini in nineteen o three. They show a certain tolerance to the downy mildew fungal disease and sensitivity to iron chlorosis and drought. It is a vine that requires high temperatures and a lot of light and since it is subject to diseases caused by viruses, it often does not produce a satisfactory production of grapes. In the past, it was not vine in purity, but together with the old local varieties to which it brought color, softness, and aroma. At the end of the nineteenth century, it was present in almost all the Italian regions, even if it was more diffused in Tuscany where it was used to improve Kianti. In eighteen sixty eight, the Visokie brothers cultivated it in that area together with the While in Erpina, the Avelino School of Inology contributes to its introduction and spreading throughout this territory because of the varieties high degree of adaptation to climactic conditions and tolerance to downy mildew. In the nineteen thirties, its cultivation was extended to many regions with the exception of Sicily where there was no trace of it. Today, paradoxically, Sicily is the leading region for the presence of this vine followed by Tuscany, especially in the territory of Cortona, which in recent years has proven to be a particularly favorable environment for the quality of wine. Although it is considered an international age for its diffusion in new world Viticulture, its cultivation appears more problematic than that of the other French vines for its sensitivity to water stress for the ease with which it over ripens for the worsening of the quality of the wine introduced by excessive production and for a still unknown physiological alteration due to which in the vineyards, you can see the death of many plants. It is a vine that more than any other is able to maintain the aromatic characteristics of the wine in warm environments. It produces wines that are a bit hard and seem immature when young, especially with prolonged post fermentation macerations. It has the tendency to produce compounds that give a typical metallic taste and for this reason it is often blended with ganache and with which it has a good aromatic and chromatic complementarity. In favorable environments and with a strict control of production per vine, It gives rise to wine suitable for aging that are alcoholic with an intense stable color. It also has a good tannic structure with an aroma reminiscent of cloves and pepper because of a specific molecule rotundone belonging to the group of isoprenoids, derivatives of carotenes. Sara is having great success in Australia. So much so that we are seeing an Australian Sarah style alongside that of therones. Of course, this sensory profile distinction is also found in Italian Those from Cortona and generally from Tuscany. They have characteristics closer to those of the Ron or to continental wines with red fruit notes with a slight minerality while those from Sicily are more similar to those from Australia. Finolic, spicy, with hints of chocolate and coffee, certainly very close to those wines from Mediterranean environments. In Australia too, the Sarah produced in warm but not sweltering regions of the Hunter Valley and those of Kunawara have more elegant and spicy aromatic notes than those of the Burosa Valley and New South Wales. With a warmer climate, therefore, they are often oxidized, poor in aroma, and with hard tannins, and they are almost always cut with cabernet sauvignon and Goodanache to attenuate their defects. Thank you for listening to this week's installment of San Jose Lambrusco 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 hardcover copies are available from positive press dot net. If you feel inspired to make a donation to our show, please visit us at the Italian wine podcast dot com. Find Italian wine podcast on Facebook and Instagram. Our Twitter handle is at ita wine podcast.