Caíño blanco or Cainho branco is a white

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: ** Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...

and

Portuguese wine Portuguese wine was mostly introduced by the Romans and other ancient Mediterranean peoples who traded with local coastal populations, mainly in the South. In pre-Roman Gallaecia-Lusitania times, the native peoples only drank beer and were unfam ...

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 Vit ...

that is grown in northwest Spain and northern Portugal in a stretch of area between Vinho Verde and the '' Denominación de Origen'' (DO) of

Rías Baixas The Rías Baixas ( Galician for "Lower Rias") are a series of four estuarine inlets located on the southwestern coast of Galicia, Spain. They are the Ría de Muros e Noia, the Ría de Arousa, the Ría de Pontevedra, and the Ría de Vigo.Mende ...

. The grape is often confused for

Albariño Alvarinho () or Albariño () is a variety of white wine grape grown in Northwest Portugal (Monção and Melgaço) and Galicia (northwest Spain) where it is also used to make varietal white wines. In Portugal it is known as Alvarinho, and somet ...

and in Vinho Verde it is sometimes known under the name ''Alvarinhão'' (a synonym shared with another Portuguese grape, Fernão Pires). While

DNA profiling DNA profiling (also called DNA fingerprinting) is the process of determining an individual's DNA characteristics. DNA analysis intended to identify a species, rather than an individual, is called DNA barcoding. DNA profiling is a forensic t ...

conducted in the early 21st century has shown that the two grapes are distinct varieties, the evidence has suggested that Caíño blanco maybe an offspring of Albariño from a natural crossing with the red Portuguese wine grape Azal tinto (also known as Caíño Bravo).J. Robinson, J. Harding and J. Vouillamoz ''Wine Grapes - A complete guide to 1,368 vine varieties, including their origins and flavours'' pgs 148-149 Allen Lane 2012

History

Ampelographers believe that Caíño blanco is native to the northwest

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and was likely the result of a natural crossing between Albariño and Azal tinto. Caíño blanco has been growing in the Spanish wine region of

Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...

and northern Portugal since at least 1722 when it was first mentioned so the crossing between Albariño and Azal tinto would have had to occur sometime before the 18th century. Swiss geneticist José Vouillamoz notes that the DNA evidence linking Caíño blanco to Albariño and Azal tinto is based on analysis of only 27

genetic marker A genetic marker is a gene or DNA sequence with a known location on a chromosome that can be used to identify individuals or species. It can be described as a variation (which may arise due to mutation or alteration in the genomic loci) that can be ...

s and that the Caiño family of grapes (which includes Caiño tinto, Caiño Bravo/Azal tinto, Caiño Berzal, Caiño Frexio and

Caiño Redondo Camaraou noir is a red French wine grape variety that was historically grown in South West France but is now more widely planted in the Spanish wine region of Galicia where it is known as Espadeiro. However, despite its Spanish synonym Camaraou n ...

) has a very complex genetic history which would require more analysis in order to confirm Caíño blanco's origins.

Viticulture

Caíño blanco is a mid to late ripening grape variety that also buds early to midway through the budding period for grapevines. The grape is susceptible to the viticultural hazards of both

downy Downy, also known as Lenor in Europe, Russia and Japan, is a brand of fabric softener produced by Procter & Gamble that was introduced in 1960. Lenor is a brand name of fabric softener and dryer sheets, also produced by P&G, sold in Europe, Ru ...

and powdery mildew.

Wine regions

In 2008 there were of Caíño blanco growing in Spain, virtually all of it in the northwest Spanish wine region of Galicia where the grape is a permitted variety in the Rías Baixas and

Monterrei DO Monterrei is a Spanish Denominación de Origen Protegida (DOP) (''Denominación de Orixe Protexida'' in Galician) for wines located in the southeast corner of the province of Ourense in ( Galicia, Spain). It covers the municipalities of Verín, ...

s. In Rías Baixas, most of the plantings of Caíño blanco are found in the

O Rosal O Rosal is a municipality in the province of Pontevedra in the autonomous community of Galicia, in Spain. It is situated in the ''comarca'' of O Baixo Miño. The municipality has 44.1 km2 and had 6531 inhabitants, according to the 2013 censu ...

area in the province of Pontevedra where it is often blended with Albariño. Across the border in Portugal there were of the grape in cultivation as of 2010.

Styles

According to

Master of Wine Master of Wine (MW) is a qualification (not an academic degree) issued by The Institute of Masters of Wine in the United Kingdom. The MW qualification is generally regarded in the wine industry as one of the highest standards of professional kno ...

Jancis Robinson Jancis Mary Robinson OBE, ComMA, MW (born 22 April 1950) is a British wine critic, journalist and wine writer. She currently writes a weekly column for the ''Financial Times'', and writes for her website JancisRobinson.com, updated daily. She ...

, Caíño blanco tends to produce wines of high alcohol levels with zesty

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 sequ ...

and

mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. ...

notes.

Synonyms

Over the years, Caíño blanco has been known under a variety of synonyms including: Alvarinhão, Cainho, Cainho branco, Cainho de Moreira (in Vinho Verde), Caino blanco, Caíño branco (in Galicia and Portugal), Caino branco and Caino de Moreira.

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 ...

(VIVC)
Caíño blanco
'' Accessed: May 28th, 2013

References

Spanish wine Grape varieties of Spain White wine grape varieties {{wine-grape-stub