Vespolina 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 is planted in
Piedmont
it, Piemontese
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around
Gattinara and
Ghemme.
Ampelographer
Ampelography ( ἄμπελος, "vine" + γράφος, "writing") is the field of botany concerned with the identification and classification of grapevines, ''Vitis'' spp. Traditionally this has been done by comparing the shape and colour of the ...
believe that the grape is most likely
indigenous
Indigenous may refer to:
*Indigenous peoples
*Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention
*Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band
*Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...
to this area of Piedmont and recent
DNA profiling identified a parent-offspring relationship with
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 ...
. Outside Piedmont it is found in the
Lombardy region of
Oltrepò Pavese
The Oltrepò Pavese (; lmo, label=Western Lombard, Ultrepò Paves) is an area of the Province of Pavia, in the north-west Italian region of Lombardy, which lies to the south of the river Po. It is ('beyond') the Po when considered from the p ...
where the grape is known as Ughetta.
[ J. Robinson (ed) ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'' Third Edition pg 733 Oxford University Press 2006 ] In
Gattinara, Vespolina is sometimes blended with Nebbiolo and
Bonarda Piemontese.
[ J. Robinson ''Jancis Robinson's Wine Course'' Third Edition pg 153 Abbeville Press 2003 ] Unlike the white Italian grape
Vespaiolo, the root of the name Vespolina does not have a direct connection with ''vespe'' or
wasp
A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. ...
. However the true origins of the name are still unclear.
[ Oz Clarke ''Encyclopedia of Grapes'' pg 273 Harcourt Books 2001 ]
Relationship to other grapes
Through its parent-offspring relationship with Nebbiolo, Vespolina is a half-sibling of several Piemontese wine grape varieties including:
Bubbierasco,
Brugnola,
Freisa
Freisa is a red Italian wine grape variety grown in the Piedmont region of north-west Italy, primarily in Monferrato and in the Langhe, but also further north in the provinces of Turin and Biella. Freisa is a vigorous and productive vine whose rou ...
,
Nebbiolo rosé,
Negretta,
Neretto di Bairo and
Rossola nera.
[Ian D'Agata ''Native Wine Grapes of Italy'', pg 476 University of California Press 2014 ]
Synonyms
The grape Vespolina is known under a variety of
synonyms. These include Balsamina, Canneta, Croattina, Guzetta, Guzitta, Guzzetta, Inzaga, Inzagre, Massana, Nespolina, Nespolino, Novarina, Solenga, Ughetta, Ughetta di Caneto, Ughetta di Canetto, Ughetta di Canneto, Ughetta di Fassolo, Ughetta di Solenga, Uva Cinerina, Uva Rara, Uvetta, Uvetto, Vespolino, Visparola and Vispavola.
References
{{reflist
Red wine grape varieties