Rossese bianco 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 around the communes of

Roddino Roddino is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italy, Italian region Piedmont, located about southeast of Turin and about northeast of Cuneo. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 386 and an area of .All demograp ...

and

Sinio Sinio is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southeast of Turin and about northeast of Cuneo. As of 1 January 2017, it had a population of 529 and an area of .All demographics and oth ...

in the

Langhe The Langhe (; ''Langa'' is from old dialect Mons Langa et Bassa Langa) is a hilly area to the south and east of the river Tanaro in the provinces of Cuneo and Asti in Piedmont, northern Italy. It is famous for its wines, cheeses, and truffles� ...

region of 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 ...

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

. While sharing the name ''Rossese'' with several Italian varieties (including Rossese di Dolceacqua, Grillo and Ruzzese),

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 ...

has shown that all these varieties have unique genetic profiles and appear to have no close relationship to each other.J. Robinson, J. Harding and J. Vouillamoz ''Wine Grapes - A complete guide to 1,368 vine varieties, including their origins and flavours'' pgs 910-911 Allen Lane 2012

Ampelographers 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 ...

believe that the name ''Rossese'' came from a description of the intense color of the Rossese berries with the many varieties that are known as ''Rossese'' having skin colors that range from deep red to pink to dark gold after

veraison In viticulture, veraison (, ) is the onset of the ripening of the grapes. The official definition of ''veraison'' is "change of color of the grape berries". Veraison represents the transition from berry growth to berry ripening, and many changes ...

History

In 1596, Andrea Bacci of

Sant'Elpidio a Mare Sant'Elpidio a Mare is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Fermo, in the Marche region of Italy. Geography Sant'Elpidio a Mare is located on a ridge of Marche Apennine, elevation above sea level, between the lower river valleys of the ri ...

, a winemaker who also served as a physician to Felice Peretti di Montalto before his elevation to

Pope Sixtus V Pope Sixtus V (; 13 December 1521 – 27 August 1590), born Felice Piergentile, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 April 1585 to his death, in August 1590. As a youth, he joined the Franciscan order, where h ...

noted that a grape known as ''Rossese bianco'' or ''Roxeise'' had been producing wine of high quality and reputation since the 15th century. However, it is impossible to know if this grape is the Rossese bianco grape of Roddino and Sinio or one of the many other Italian wine grapes that have been known as Rossese.

Styles and wines

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 ...

, the rare

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. ...

examples of Rossese bianco tend to be light bodied with fresh flavors. It is a currently a permitted variety 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 ...

'' wines of Langhe.

Synonyms

While many grape varieties share the name Rossese, as of 2013 there were no known synonyms for the Rossese bianco grown in Roddino and Sinio.

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)
Rossese bianco
' Accessed: November 9th, 2013

References

{{reflist White wine grape varieties