Grisa nera is a red

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

that is grown in the Piedmont wine region of northwest Italy where it is used in both

winemaking Winemaking, wine-making, or vinification is the production of wine, starting with the selection of the fruit, its Ethanol fermentation, fermentation into alcohol, and the bottling of the finished liquid. The history of wine-making stretches over ...

and as a

table grape Table grapes are grapes intended for consumption as fresh fruit, as opposed to grapes grown for wine production, Juicing, juice production, jelly and jam making, or for drying into raisins. ''Vitis vinifera'' table grapes can be in the form of e ...

. The grape is most often used as a minor blending component with wines made from Barbera, Neretta Cuneese and Plassa.J. Robinson, J. Harding and J. Vouillamoz ''Wine Grapes - A complete guide to 1,368 vine varieties, including their origins and flavours'' pg 441 Allen Lane 2012

History

In the early 21st century,

DNA profiling DNA profiling (also called DNA fingerprinting and genetic fingerprinting) is the process of determining an individual's deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) characteristics. DNA analysis intended to identify a species, rather than an individual, is cal ...

showed that Grisa nera had a parent-offspring relationship with another red Piedmontese wine grape, Avarengo, though it is not yet known which grape is the parent and which is the offspring. However, this strong relationship between two grapes that are grown almost exclusively in the Piedmont region strongly suggest that both varieties are native to Piedmont.

Viticulture

Grisa nera is a mid to late ripening variety that is used for both wine and table grape production. The vine can be very vigorous, producing large foliage but often has low fertility and is generally low yielding. While Grisa nera has good resistance to most fungal diseases, such as downy and

powdery mildew Powdery mildew is a fungus, fungal disease that affects a wide range of plants. Powdery mildew diseases are caused by many different species of Ascomycota, ascomycete fungi in the order Erysiphales. Powdery mildew is one of the easier plant disea ...

, it is susceptible to the viticultural hazard of

coulure Coulure (pronounced coo-LYUR) is a viticultural hazard that is the result of metabolic reactions to weather conditions that causes a failure of grapes to develop after flowering. In English the word ''shatter'' is sometimes used. Coulure is tri ...

Wine regions

Panorama dal Castello di Grinzane Cavour

Grisa nera is almost exclusively found in the foothills of the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

in the Piedmont wine region of Italy. Here it is grown around the town of

Pinerolo Pinerolo (; ; ; ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Turin, Piedmont, northwestern Italy, southwest of Turin on the river Chisone. The Lemina torrent has its source at the boundary between Pinerolo and San Pietro Val di Lemi ...

in the

province of Turin The province of Turin (; ; ) was a Provinces of Italy, province in the Piedmont region of Italy. Its capital was the city of Turin. The province existed until 31 December 2014, when it was replaced by the Metropolitan City of Turin. Geography It ...

and along the lower reaches of the

Susa Valley The Susa Valley (; ; ; ; ) is a valley in the Metropolitan City of Turin, Piedmont region of northern Italy, located between the Graian Alps in the north and the Cottian Alps in the south. It is one of the longest valleys of the Italian Alps. ...

. A few plantings of Grisa nera can also be found in the

province of Cuneo The province of Cuneo (; ) is a province in the Piedmont region of Italy. To the west, it borders the French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur ( departments of Alpes-Maritimes, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Hautes-Alpes), to the north the ...

. Throughout Piedmont, the grape is most often found in the field blends in the vineyard and in the winery is often blended with other local Piedmontese wine grapes including Barbera, Neretta Cuneese and Barbera.

Synonyms

Over the years, Grisa nera has been known under a variety of synonyms including: Bigia, Grigia, Grisa, Grisa di Cumiana (in Pinerolo) and Uva Bigia.

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)
Grisa nera
'' Accessed: June 2nd, 2013

References

{{reflist Red wine grape varieties