Prié blanc 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 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 almost exclusively in the

Valle d'Aosta DOC The Valle d'Aosta DOC (or Vallée d'Aoste DOC, in French) is an Italian ''denominazione di origine controllata'' located in the Aosta Valley of north-west Italy. Surrounded by the Alps, the Valle d'Aosta is home to the highest elevated vineyar ...

of northwest Italy. The Valle d'Aosta varietal wine Blanc de Morgex et de La Salle is made from Prié blanc grapes.

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 th ...

s consider Prié blanc one of the oldest grape varieties in the

Valle d'Aosta The Aosta Valley ( ; ; ; or ), officially the Autonomous Region of Aosta Valley, is a mountainous Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region in northwestern Italy. It is bordered by Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Fr ...

. Through a complex pedigree it appears to have some genetic relationship with many other grape varieties in the region. Recent

DNA analysis 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 ...

has connected the grape to the

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 countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

wine grapes of Lairén in

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

and

Albillo Albillo or Albillo Real is a white Spanish wine grape varietyAlbillo Real
,

Ribera del Duero Ribera del Duero is a Spanish Denominación de Origen Protegida (DOP) located in the country's northern plateau and is one of eleven 'quality wine' regions within the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also one of several recogni ...

and

province of Ávila A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...

, but it is not yet known if the grape originated in Spain and traveled to Italy or the inverse.J. Robinson, J. Harding and J. Vouillamoz ''Wine Grapes – A complete guide to 1,368 vine varieties, including their origins and flavours'' pgs 845–848 Allen Lane 2012

History

Ampelographers do not yet know definitively the origins of Prié blanc but evidence shows that it is a very old variety that has been growing in the

region of northwest Italy since at least 1691 when it was documented as one of the grapes growing in the commune of Saint-Pierre near the city of

Aosta Aosta ( , , ; ; , or ; or ) is the principal city of the Aosta Valley, a bilingual Regions of Italy, region in the Italy, Italian Alps, north-northwest of Turin. It is situated near the Italian entrance of the Mont Blanc Tunnel and the G ...

. The origins of the name ''Prié'' is unknown but one of the grape's early synonyms ''Blanc du Valdigne'' comes from the

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 ...

name for the upper reaches of the Aosta Valley that extends to

Mont Blanc Mont Blanc (, ) is a mountain in the Alps, rising above sea level, located right at the Franco-Italian border. It is the highest mountain in Europe outside the Caucasus Mountains, the second-most prominent mountain in Europe (after Mount E ...

with some ampelographers speculating that grape maybe indigenous to the foothills of the mountain. Another synonym ''Agostena'' which may be derived from the ancient Latin name for the city of Aosta, ''Augusta Praetoria'', also hints to the grape's long history and potential origins in this region. However, the name could also be a derivative from the Italian word ''agosto'' referring to the month of August when this early ripening variety is sometimes ready to be harvested.Schneider A., Raimondi S., Torello Marinoni D
Prié blanc
Italian Vitis Database, Accessed: January 9th, 2014 Another potential place of origin for Prié blanc is the

Valais Valais ( , ; ), more formally, the Canton of Valais or Wallis, is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of thirteen districts and its capital and largest city is Sion, Switzer ...

region of

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

where the grape seems to have grandparent relationship to the

Swiss wine Swiss wine is produced from nearly of vineyards, and the wines are mainly produced in the west and in the south of Switzerland, in the cantons of Geneva, Neuchâtel, Ticino, Valais and Vaud. White grape varieties are grown on 43% of the country' ...

grape

Rouge du Pays Rouge du Pays, also known as Cornalin du Valais or Cornalin, is a variety of red wine grape.Rouge du Pa ...

through Prié blanc's offspring Mayolet. In Switzerland, one of Prié blanc's primary synonyms is ''Bernarde'' which may be a reference to the

Great St Bernard Pass The Great St Bernard Pass (, , ; ) is the third highest road pass in Switzerland, at an elevation of . It connects Martigny in the canton of Valais in Switzerland with Aosta in the region Aosta Valley in Italy. It is the lowest pass lying on t ...

connecting the Valle d'Aosta to Valais which would likely be the path that cuttings of the grapevine would spread from one region to the other. However, ampelographers like Swiss grape geneticist

José Vouillamoz 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 ''V ...

believe that it is far more likely that Prié blanc spread from Aosta to Switzerland than the other way around. An Italian origin of Prié blanc was long assumed until DNA analysis in 2010 identified plantings of ''Legiruela'' in the province of Ávila in north central Spain were actually Prié blanc. Further profiling connected the grape to several Spanish wine grape varieties including a parent-offspring relationship with Albillo from the Ribera del Duero, Ávila in

Castile and León Castile and León is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwestern Spain. Castile and León is the largest autonomous community in Spain by area, covering 94,222 km2. It is, however, sparsely populated, with a pop ...

and

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

and the Lairén grown in the southern Spanish wine region of Andalusia, indicating that Prié blanc must have been in Spain for a very long time in order to propagate and interact with other varieties grown so widely apart. Additionally, the exact relationship between Prié blanc, Lairén and Albillo is not yet fully known as to which grape variety is the parent and which varieties are the offspring, suggesting that potentially Prié blanc could be of Spanish origins. Another grape variety that Prié blanc has an unclear parent-offspring relationship with is the

Piedmont wine Piedmont 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 ...

and

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 ...

Luglienga Luglienga (also known as Lignan blanc and Seidentraube) is a white Italian wine and table grape variety that is grown across Europe. The grape has a long history of use, dating back to at least the 14th century in Piedmont but is today most seen ...

, of which the two varieties are often confused with. As Luglienga has been growing in the Piedmont region since at least 1329 (although its name has changed) (more than 300 years before the first recorded mention of Prié blanc), it would strongly suggest that Luglienga is more likely the parent variety with Prié blanc the offspring. But the question of how Prié blanc traveled from northern Italy to Spain is still not answered.

Relationship to other grapes

In addition to the unclear relationship with the varieties mentioned above, Prié blanc has a close genetic relationship to several grape varieties grown in the Valle d'Aosta region. These include a clear parent-offspring relationship with Mayolet and Primetta. Through its parentage of Primetta, Prié blanc is a grand parent of the Swiss grape Rouge du Pays and subsequent great-grandparent variety to the Valle d'Aosta grapes Roussin, Cornalian and Neret di Saint Vincent.

Viticulture

Historically, there have been two

clones Clone or Clones or Cloning or Cloned or The Clone may refer to: Places * Clones, County Fermanagh, Ireland * Clones, County Monaghan, a town in Ireland * Clones railway station, Ireland Biology * Clone (B-cell), a lymphocyte clone, the massiv ...

of Prié blanc found in the Valle d'Aosta region. The

Valdigne The Valdigne () is the upper part of the Aosta Valley in north-west Italy. It is traversed by the Dora Baltea (), a tributary of the Po. Description It extends from La Salle to Courmayeur, including the side valleys of Val Ferret, Val Veny an ...

clone from the upper part of the Valley has been a specialty grown in the communes of

Morgex Morgex ( Valdôtain: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Aosta Valley region of north-western Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italia ...

and La Salle. The second clone grown around the Valpelline region of the valley in the foothills of

Grand Combin The Grand Combin is a mountain massif in the western Pennine Alps in the canton of Valais. At a height of the summit of ''Combin de Grafeneire'' is one of the highest peaks in the Alps and the second most prominent of the Pennine Alps. The Gran ...

, though recorded in the area in 1838 by ampelographer Lorenzo Gatta, is now considered largely extinct with only the Valdigne clone still being used commercially throughout the Valle d'Aosta. Prié blanc is an early ripening grape variety that has good winter-hardiness and resistance to frost. The grapevine is susceptible to several other

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'' *''Ampe ...

including various rots and the grapevine moth species ''

Eupoecilia ambiguella ''Eupoecilia ambiguella'', the vine moth or European grape berry moth, is a Palearctic moth species of the family Tortricidae. It was first described in 1796 (as ''Tinea ambiguella'') by Jacob Hübner. It is an economically significant grape pest ...

''. Most vines of Prié blanc are ungrafted due to

phylloxera Grape phylloxera is an insect pest of grapevines worldwide, originally native to eastern North America. Grape phylloxera (''Daktulosphaira vitifoliae'' (Fitch 1855) belongs to the family Phylloxeridae, within the order Hemiptera, bugs); orig ...

's difficulties surviving in the harsh climate conditions of the Valle d'Aosta. In order to maximize the amount of heat needed to fully ripen, vines of Prié blanc are usually trained in low

pergola A pergola is most commonly used as an outdoor garden feature forming a shaded walkway, passageway, or sitting area of vertical posts or pillars that usually support crossbeams and a sturdy open lattice, often upon which woody vines are t ...

systems near to the ground so that the vines can capture the heat radiating from the soil.

Wine regions

The vast majority of Prié blanc plantings in the world are found in the Valle d'Aosta region of northwest Italy with recorded in 2000. Most of these plantings are situated around the communes of La Salle and Morgex where the grape is permitted to be made as 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. ...

wine in the ''

Denominazione di origine controllata 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 ...

'' (DOC) zone of Valle d'Aosta under the label of Blanc de Morgex et de La Salle. With vineyards planted between to above sea level, these plantings of Prié blanc are some of the highest-elevation vineyards in continental Europe. Outside of Italy, a scant of Prié blanc is planted in the Valais region of Switzerland as of 2005 where the grape is known as ''Bernarde''.James Molesworth '
Taking a Break with a Brisk Italian White
'' Wine Spectator, August 17th, 2011 In Spain, plantings of the grape around found around the commune of San Esteban del Valle in the province of Ávila in the

region under the name ''Legiruela''. However, these plantings are so small that they have not been registered in the official Spanish census of grape varieties.

Styles

According to Master of Wine

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 ...

, Prié blanc tends to make

dry wines The subjective sweetness of a wine is determined by the interaction of several factors, including the amount of sugar in the wine, but also the relative levels of alcohol, acids, and tannins. Sugars and alcohol enhance a wine's sweetness, while ...

with "fresh"

acidity levels The acids in wine are an important component in both winemaking and the finished product of wine. They are present in both grapes and wine, having direct influences on the color, balance and taste of the wine as well as the growth and vitality of ...

and aromas of white flowers and hay. In the Valle d'Aosta region, the grape is sometimes used to make

dessert wines Dessert wines, sometimes called pudding wines in the United Kingdom, are sweet wines typically served with dessert. There is no simple definition of a dessert wine. In the UK, a dessert wine is considered to be any sweet wine drunk with a mea ...

and

sparkling wines Sparkling wine is a wine with significant levels of carbon dioxide in it, making it fizzy. While it is common to refer to this as champagne, European Union countries legally reserve that word for products exclusively produced in the Champagne r ...

made in the traditional method of Champagne.

Synonyms

Over the years, Prié blanc has been known under a variety of synonyms including: Agostenga, Agostana, Agostenga bianca. Agostenga blanc, Agostina, Agostinga, Aostenga, Augustina, Augusttraube, Bernarde (in the Valais region), Bernarde nel Vallese, Bernardine, Bianca Capella, Bianca Capello, Blanc Commun, Blanc de La Salle, Blanc de Morgex, Blanc du Valdigne, Blanc Gros, Blanc Petit, Cibebo bianco, Daniela, Danijela, Early Green Madeira, Frueher Leipziger, Giruelo, Gros blanc, Hedvabne Zlute, Hodvabne Zelene, Hodvabne Zlte, Kienzheimer, Kilianer, Legiruela (in the province of Ávila in Castilla y León), Leipziger Frueh, Lugliatica verde, Luglienca bianca, Lyany Mello, Maddalena Salomon, Madeleine Alice, Madeleine Alice Salomon, Malvasia Belaia, Malvasier Frueh weiss, Malvaziya Belaya, Perltraube, Petit blanc, Plant de la Salle, Precoce de Kientzheim, Prie, Prie bianco, Rabolina weiss, Raisin d'Aout, Rosinentraube, Seidentraube Gruen, Uva Agostina, Uva d'Agosto, Uva Luce, Vert Precoce de Madere, Weisswaelscher and Zibebe weiss.

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)
Prié blanc
' Accessed: 5 December 2013

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prie blanc White wine grape varieties