Albarossa is a red

Italian wine Italian wine is produced in every region of Italy. Italy is the world's largest producer of wine, with an area of under vineyard cultivation, and contributing a 2013–2017 annual average of 48.3 million hl of wine. In 2018 Italy accounted fo ...

grape variety This list of grape varieties includes cultivated grapes, whether used for wine, or eating as a table grape, fresh or dried (raisin, currant, sultana). For a complete list of all grape species including those unimportant to agriculture, see Viti ...

that was created in the

Veneto wine Venetian wine is produced in Veneto, a highly productive wine region in north-eastern Italy. The broader area comprising Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol is known collectively as the ''Tre Venezie'', after the Republ ...

region in 1938 by grape breeder Giovanni Dalmasso at the Istituto Sperimentale per la Viticoltura in

Conegliano Conegliano (; Venetian: ''Conejan'') is a town and ''comune'' of the Veneto region, Italy, in the province of Treviso, about north by rail from the town of Treviso. The population of the city is of people. The remains of a 10th-century castle a ...

. Dalmasso originally thought he created the grape from a crossing of

Nebbiolo Nebbiolo (, ; pms, nebieul ) is an Italian red wine grape variety predominantly associated with its native Piedmont region, where it makes the '' Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita'' (DOCG) wines of Barolo, Barbaresco, Roero ...

and

Barbera Barbera is a red Italian wine grape variety that, as of 2000, was the third most-planted red grape variety in Italy (after Sangiovese and Montepulciano). It produces good yields and is known for deep color, full body, low tannins and high level ...

but DNA profiling in 2009 confirmed that the "Nebbiolo" vine used wasn't Nebbiolo at all but rather a very old

French wine French wine is produced all throughout France, in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France is one of the largest wine producers in the world, along with Italian, Spanish, and Amer ...

grape variety from the Ardèche, Chatus. The confusion stemmed from a synonym of Chatus, ''Nebbiolo di Dronero'' (Nebbiolo of

Dronero Dronero ( oc, Draonier) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southwest of Turin and about northwest of Cuneo Cuneo (; pms, Coni ; oc, Coni/Couni ; french: Coni ) is a city and ...

, a small commune in the

Piedmont wine Piemonte wine is the range of Italian wines made in the region of Piedmont in the northwestern corner of Italy. The best-known wines from the region include Barolo and Barbaresco. They are made from the Nebbiolo grape. These wines are ideal for ...

region where Nebbiolo is grown but so apparently was Chatus).J. Robinson, J. Harding and J. Vouillamoz ''Wine Grapes - A complete guide to 1,368 vine varieties, including their origins and flavours'' pg 24, 86, 232 Allen Lane 2012

Wine regions

Albarossa first became a permitted variety for use in Italian winemaking in 1977 but its commercial use has not taken off. A 2000 census revealed that there is less 10

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100- metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ...

s (25 acres) of the variety planted throughout Italy. In the early 21st century, Piedmont wine producer Michele Chiarlo added a hectare of the grape to his vineyard and began producing a

varietal A varietal wine is a wine made primarily from a single named grape variety, and which typically displays the name of that variety on the wine label.The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, 2000.winepros.com.au. ...

Albarossa under the Monferrato DOC in 2006. The leading producer of Albarossa is Banfi Piemonte with its "La Lus," evidently the only Albarossa imported to the US. Banfi has been encouraging small growers to plant the varietal and promotes the wine through its extensive distribution channels and its annual "Cru Artisan College" educational initiative in the US.

Viticulture

Dalmasso created his original crossing with the aim of combining the quality wine potential of Nebbiolo with Barbera's high yield potential and natural resistance to many

viticultural hazards This is a list of diseases of grapes (''Vitis'' spp.). Bacterial diseases Fungal diseases Miscellaneous diseases and disorders Nematodes, parasitic Phytoplasma, virus and viruslike diseases See also *'' Ampeloglypter ater'' *'' Am ...

like mold and mildew. While the second parent of Albarossa was later discovered to be Chatus instead of Nebbiolo, the grape did retain many of the viticultural characteristics of Barbera including its ability to ripen late but still maintain good levels of

acidity In computer science, ACID ( atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps. In the context of databases, a ...

, especially when planted on poor

chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Ch ...

y soils. The Albarossa vine tends to produce compact clusters of very small grape berries with thick skins that have a high phenolic content, particularly of anthocyanins that contribute to

wine color The color of wine is one of the most easily recognizable characteristics of wines. Color is also an element in wine tasting since heavy wines generally have a deeper color. The accessory traditionally used to judge the wine color was the tastevin, ...

. The grape has the potential to hang long the vine, accumulating high sugar and potential alcohol level while still maintaining sufficient acidity.

Relationship to other grapes

Throughout the 1930s, Giovanni Dalmasso made several successful crossings with Nebbiolo di Dronero (Chatus) and Barbera with each of these grapes being a sibling variety to Albarossa. These include Cornarea, Nebbiera, San Michele and Soperga.

Synonyms

Over the years Albarossa Nero has been known under a variety of synonyms including XV/31, Dalmasso 15-31, Incrocio Dalmasso XV-31.

Vitis International Variety Catalogue The Vitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC) is a database of various species and varieties/cultivars of grapevine, the genus ''Vitis''. VIVC is administered by the Geilweilerhof Institute for Grape Breeding (''Institut für Rebenzüchtung Gei ...

(VIVC)
Albarossa
'' Accessed: December 30th, 2012

References

{{reflist Red wine grape varieties