Albana is a white

Italian wine Italian wine () is produced in every region of Italy. Italy is the country with the widest variety of indigenous grapevine in the world, with an area of under vineyard cultivation, as well as the List of wine-producing regions#Countries, world's ...

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,0 ...

planted primarily in the

Emilia-Romagna Emilia-Romagna (, , both , ; or ; ) is an Regions of Italy, administrative region of northern Italy, comprising the historical regions of Emilia (region), Emilia and Romagna. Its capital is Bologna. It has an area of , and a population of 4.4 m ...

region. The wine made from the grape, Albana di Romagna, was first awarded

DOCG The following four classification of wine, classifications of wine constitute the Italy, Italian system of labelling and legally protecting Italian wine: * ''Denominazione di origine'' (DO, rarely used; ; 'designation of origin'); * ''Indicazione ...

status (Denominazione Origine Controllata e Garantita) in 1987. The grape produces deeply colored wines and could be related to Greco di Tufo.J. Robinson ''Jancis Robinson's Wine Course'' Third Edition pg 100 Abbeville Press 2003

History

The history of this grape variety is unclear and confused with legends; it is believed that it was introduced to the region by the

ancient Romans The Roman people was the ethnicity and the body of Roman citizenship, Roman citizens (; ) during the Roman Kingdom, the Roman Republic, and the Roman Empire. This concept underwent considerable changes throughout the long history of the Roman ...

. The name ''Albana'' refers to the colour of the grapes (Albus = white in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

). In the 13th century Pier de' Crescenzi in his famous ''Treatise on Agriculture'', describes Albana as "a powerful wine with an excellent taste, but at the same time easy to be preserved". Also in the 13th century, agricultural writer Petrus di Crescentiis mentions the grapes used in wine being produced in the

region.J. Robinson (ed) ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'' Third Edition pg 9 Oxford University Press 2006 In the 18th century, an agronomist from

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

, Vincenzo Tamara, mentioned this grape variety.

Pedigree

An Italian study published in 2008 using

DNA typing Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, or ...

showed a close genetic relationship between

Garganega Garganega (, ; meaning "from Gargano") is a variety of white Italian wine grape widely grown in the Veneto region of North East Italy, particularly in the provinces of Verona and Vicenza. It is Italy's 6th most widely planted white grape. ...

on the one hand and Albuela and several other grape varieties on the other hand. It is therefore possible that Garganega is one of the parents of Albuela, however, since the parents of Garganega have not been identified, the exact nature of the relationship could not be conclusively established.

Synonyms

Albana is also known under the synonyms Albana a Grappo Longo, Albana a Grappolo Fitto, Albana a Grappolo Lungo, Albana a Grappolo Rado o Gentile, Albana dell'Istria (?), Albana della Forcella, Albana di Bertinoro, Albana di Bologna, Albana di Forli, Albana di Gatteo, Albana di Lugo, Albana di Montiano, Albana di Pesaro, Albana di Romagna, Albana di Terra Del Sole, Albana Gentile, Albana Gentile di Faenza, Albana Gentile di Ravenna, Albana Grossa, Albano, Albanone, Albuelis, Biancame

Sinalunga Sinalunga is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Siena, in the Tuscany region of central Italy. History Aside from scanty prehistoric findings, the oldest historical remains date from the 8th century BC, when Sinalunga was perhaps an Etrusca ...

, Forcella, Forcellata, Forcellina, Forcelluta, Raccia Pollone, Ribona, Riminese, and Sforcella.Albana
,

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 G ...

, accessed on June 21, 2010 There is also a rare Spanish variety called Albana.Albana (Spain)
,

, accessed on June 21, 2010 Albana is also used as a synonym of the grape varieties Albula,

Elbling Elbling () is a variety of white grape (sp. ''Vitis vinifera'') which today is primarily grown in the upstream parts of the Mosel region in Germany and in Luxembourg, where the river is called Moselle. The variety has a long history, and use ...

, and Tempranilla.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Albana (Grape) White wine grape varieties