Schioppettino (; meaning "gunshot" or "little crack", also known as "Ribolla 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 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 ...

grown predominantly in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region of northeast

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. The grape is believed to have originated between the

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

of Prepotto and the

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

n border, where records of the Schiopettino

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

being used in marriage ceremonies date to 1282. The

was nearly lost to

extinction Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

following the

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 ...

epidemic of the late 19th century, when vineyard owners decided against replanting the variety in favor of

French wine French wine is produced throughout all of France in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France is one of the largest wine producers in the world. French wine traces its history to th ...

grapes like

Cabernet franc Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux (wine), Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone, as in the Loire (wine), Loire's C ...

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebano ...

Pinot gris Pinot gris, pinot grigio (, ), or ''Grauburgunder'' is a white wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. Thought to be a mutant clone of the pinot noir variety, it normally has a pinkish-gray hue, accounting for its name, but th ...

Sauvignon blanc Sauvignon blanc () is a green-skinned grape variety that originates from the city of Bordeaux in France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French words ''sauvage'' ("wild") and ''blanc'' ("white") due to its early origins as an ind ...

and

Merlot Merlot ( ) is a dark-blue-colored wine grape variety that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name ''Merlot'' is thought to be a diminutive of , the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the color ...

. Some isolated plantings continued to exist until a 1978

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

decree encouraged its planting in the

province of Udine The province of Udine (; ; ; ; ) was a province in the autonomous Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy, bordering Austria and Slovenia, with the capital in the city of Udine. Abolished on 30 September 2017, it was reestablished in 2019 as the Re ...

.J. Robinson (ed) ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'' Third Edition pg 615-616 Oxford University Press 2006

Viticulture and wine

Today the ''

Vitis vinifera ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, is a species of flowering plant, native to the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean region, Central Europe, and southwestern Asia, from Morocco and Portugal north to southern Germany and east to northern ...

'' grape is a prominent planting in the Colli Orientali del Friuli ''

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), where it produces very aromatic, medium bodied wines, with Rhône-like qualities of deep dark coloring, with violet,

raspberry The raspberry is the edible fruit of several plant species in the genus ''Rubus'' of the Rosaceae, rose family, most of which are in the subgenus ''Rubus#Modern classification, Idaeobatus''. The name also applies to these plants themselves. Ras ...

and pepper notes. In addition to thriving in the Prepotto area, the grape also seems to do well in the Buttrio- Manzano area. The grape's high

acidity An acid is a molecule or ion capable of either donating a proton (i.e. hydrogen cation, H+), known as a Brønsted–Lowry acid, or forming a covalent bond with an electron pair, known as a Lewis acid. The first category of acids are the ...

and low

alcohol level Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as alc/vol or ABV) is a common measure of the amount of alcohol contained in a given alcoholic beverage. It is defined as the volume the ethanol in the liquid would take if separated from the rest of the solution, ...

s bodes well for a semi-sparkling style that is mostly consumed domestically and rarely

export An export in international trade is a good produced in one country that is sold into another country or a service provided in one country for a national or resident of another country. The seller of such goods or the service provider is a ...

ed.Oz Clarke ''Encyclopedia of Grapes'' pg 229 Harcourt Books 2001

Wine regions

Today the grape is found mostly in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region and Slovenia. It is used most notably in the wines from Prepotto, Colli Orientali del Friuli Rosso, Cialla Schioppettino and Isonzo Rosso.M. Ewing-Mulligan & E. McCarthy ''Italian Wines for Dummies'' pg 132-140 Hungry Minds 2001

United States

The grape was first planted in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in the Russian River Valley wine region of California. The first Schioppettino varietal wine in North America was made in 1994 by Holdredge Wines in

Healdsburg, California Healdsburg is a city located in Sonoma County, California, United States. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 11,340. Healdsburg is centered on a 19th-century plaza. History Early inhabitants of the local area included the Pomo ...

. In addition, Matthiasson Wines in Napa, Orsi Family Vineyards in Healdsburg, Preston Farm and Winery in Healdsburg, and Andis Wines in the Sierra Foolhills (Plymouth) grow and produce Schioppettino.

Australia

Schioppettino was introduced into Australia in 2005 by Chalmers Nurseries in Heathcote, and first commercially vinified in 2016. Schioppettino wines are being produced by several producers in Australia, including as low alcohol and natural wines.

Synonyms

Schioppettino has been known under a variety of synonyms: Pocalza, Ribolla Nera, Schioccoletto, Schiopetino and Scoppiettino.

References

{{reflist Red wine grape varieties Wine grapes of Italy