Verdeca 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 primarily grown in

Apulia Apulia ( ), also known by its Italian language, Italian name Puglia (), is a Regions of Italy, region of Italy, located in the Southern Italy, southern peninsular section of the country, bordering the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Strait of Ot ...

in southern Italy where

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 grape may have originated. In Apulia, it is one of the main grapes 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

Locorotondo DOC Locorotondo ( Barese: ) is a town and municipality of the Metropolitan City of Bari, Apulia, southern Italy, with a population of about 14,000. It is situated between Martina Franca and Alberobello in the Valle d'Itria, a green stretch of countr ...

and

Martina Franca DOC Martina Franca, or just Martina ( Martinese: ), is a town and ''municipality'' in the province of Taranto, Apulia, Italy. It is the second most populated town of the province after Taranto, and has a population (2016) of 49,086. Since 1975, ...

along with

Bianco d'Alessano ''Bianco d'Alessano'' is a white Italian wine grape variety that is grown in the Apulia region of southern Italy, where it is often blended with Verdeca. In the early 21st century, the grape was planted in the South Australian wine region of Riverl ...

. In

Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...

, it is grown on the slopes of

Mount Vesuvius Mount Vesuvius ( ) is a Somma volcano, somma–stratovolcano located on the Gulf of Naples in Campania, Italy, about east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is one of several volcanoes forming the Campanian volcanic arc. Vesuv ...

where it is used as a blending variety with

Falanghina Falanghina, also called Falanghina Greco, is a variety of wine grape, ''Vitis vinifera,'' used for white wines. It is an ancient grape variety which may have provided a basis for the classical Falernian wine, and has considerable character.win ...

Coda di volpe Coda di Volpe is a white Italian wine grape variety that has been historically grown in the Campania region around the town of Naples. It is often confused with another white Italian wine grape, Emilia (grape), Emilia, that share many of the same ...

and Greco in both the white wines and the

sweet Sweetness is a basic taste most commonly perceived when eating foods rich in sugars. Sweet tastes are generally regarded as pleasurable. In addition to sugars like sucrose, many other chemical compounds are sweet, including aldehydes, ketones, ...

dessert wine 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 ...

of the region,

Lacryma Christi or Lachryma Christi of Vesuvius is a Neapolitan type of wine produced on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius in Campania, Italy. White Lacryma Christi is made mainly from Verdeca and Coda di Volpe grapes, with smaller proportions of Falanghina, Capre ...

. It is also a minor component used in the some

vermouth Vermouth (, ) is an Italian aromatized wine, aromatized, fortified wine, flavored with various Botany, botanicals (roots, Bark (botany), barks, flowers, seeds, Herb, herbs, and Spice, spices) and sometimes Food coloring, colored. The modern ve ...

production.J. Bastianich & D. Lynch ''Vino Italiano'' pg 297, 312-316, 401 Crown Publishing 2005 J. Robinson ''Jancis Robinson's Guide to Wine Grapes'' pg 194 Oxford University Press 1996

DOC wines

Italia 2010 - Perrini organic vineyard in Puglia

Verdeca is a minor blending component in several DOCs central and southern Italy but some of the more notable DOCs the grape can be found in include:P. Saunders ''Wine Label Language'' pp. 168-216 Firefly Books 2004 *

Gravina DOC Gravina in Puglia (; ; ; ) is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Bari, Apulia, southern Italy. The word ''gravina'' comes from the Latin ''grava'' or from the messapic ''graba'', with the meaning of ''rock'', ''shaft'' and ''erosio ...

- A white wine only DOC in the Apulia region based around the town of Gravina. The wine is primarily a blend of

Malvasia del Chianti Malvasia (), also known as Malvazia, is a group of wine grape varieties grown historically in the Mediterranean region and Macaronesia, but now grown in many of the winemaking regions of the world. In the past, the names Malvasia, Malvazia, ...

(40-65%) with

Greco di Tufo Greco is an Italian wine grape that may be of Greek origin. The name relates to both white (Greco bianco) and black (Greco nero) grape varieties. While there is more land area dedicated to Greco nero, the Greco bianco is the grape most commonl ...

and/or Bianco d'Alessano making up the remaining percentages of the blend. Verdeca, along with

Bombino bianco Bombino bianco is a white Italian wine grape variety planted primarily along Italy's Adriatic coast line, most notably in Apulia. The vine is prone to high yields and often produces neutral flavor wines.J. Robinson ''Jancis Robinson's Wine Co ...

and

Trebbiano Trebbiano is an Italian wine grape, one of the most widely planted grape varieties in the world. It gives good yields, but tends to yield undistinguished wine. It can be fresh and fruity, but does not keep long. Also known as ugni blanc, it ...

can be used up to a maximum of 10%. Grapes destined for this DOC must be harvested to a yield no greater than 15

tonnes The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton in the United States to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the s ...

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...

with the finished wine attaining a minimum

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, ...

of 11%. A sparkling ''Spumante'' style wine can also be produced under the same DOC requirements as the white wine. *Locorotondo DOC - A white only DOC in Apulia that covers 1650 ha (4000 acres) around the town of

Locorotondo Locorotondo ( Barese: ) is a town and municipality of the Metropolitan City of Bari, Apulia, southern Italy, with a population of about 14,000. It is situated between Martina Franca and Alberobello in the Valle d'Itria, a green stretch of country ...

. Verdeca must account for 50-65% of the blend with Bianco d'Alessano usually filling in the remaining 35-50%. Fiano, Bombino and Malvasia Toscana are permitted to be included up to the 5% of the total blend. Grapes destined for DOC wines must be kept to a maximum yield of 13 tonnes/ha with the finished product attaining a minimum alcohol level of 11%. A sparkling ''Spumante'' style wine can also be produced under the same DOC requirements as the white wines. *Martina Franca DOC - A white only DOC in Apulia around the town of

Martina Franca Martina Franca, or just Martina (Bari dialect, Martinese: ), is a town and ''comune, municipality'' in the province of Taranto, Apulia, Italy. It is the second most populated town of the province after Taranto, and has a population (2016) of ...

in the

Itria Valley Itria Valley (in Italian: ''Valle d'Itria'') is an area located in Apulia region, in Southern Italy. Itria Valley spreads over Province of Bari, Province of Brindisi and Province of Taranto, and coincide with the lower part of Murgia upland (Lo ...

in Apulia. Verdeca must account for 50-65% of the blend with Bianco d'Alessano usually filling in the remaining 35-50%. Fiano, Bombino and Malvasia Toscana are permitted to be included up to the 5% of the total blend. Grapes destined for DOC wines must be kept to a maximum yield of 13 tonnes/ha with the finished wine attaining a minimum alcohol level of 11%. A sparkling ''Spumante'' style wine can also be produced under the same DOC requirements as the white wines. *

Ostuni DOC Ostuni is a white or ''rosé'' style Italian wine awarded ''Denominazione di Origine Controllata'' (DOC) status in 1972, in the Province of Brindisi of Apulia.M. Ewing-Mulligan & E. McCarthy ''Italian Wines for Dummies'' pg 221 Hungry Minds 2001 ...

- Based around three small mountains surrounding the town of

Ostuni Ostuni (; ) is a city and ''comune'', located about 8 km from the coast, in the province of Brindisi, region of Apulia, Italy. The town has a population of about 32,000 during the winter, but can swell to 200,000 inhabitants during summer, ...

in the Murgia region near the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...

. The white wines are primarily made from the local grapes Impigno (50-85%) and Francavilla (15-50%) with Verdeca allowed in the blend, along with Bianco d'Alessano, up to a maximum of 10%. Grapes destined for DOC wines must be kept to a maximum yield of 11 tonnes/ha with the finished product attaining a minimum alcohol level of 11%. * San Severo DOC - A DOC containing around 2,000 ha (5,000 acres) situated around the town of

San Severo San Severo (; formerly spelled Sansevero and previously known as San Severino; ; ) is a (municipality) of inhabitants in the province of Foggia, Apulia, Southern Italy. Rising on the foot of the spur of Gargano, San Severo adjoins the communes ...

, north of

Foggia Foggia (, ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) of Apulia, in Southern Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. In 2013, its population was 153,143. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere delle Puglie, Tavoliere, also know ...

in the Capitanata di Puglia region. The white wines of the DOC are primarily Bombino Bianco (40-60%) and Trebbiano Toscano (40-60%) with Verdeca, along with Malvasia del Chianti, permitted up to a maximum of 20%. Grapes destined for DOC wines must be kept to a maximum yield of 14 tonnes/ha with the finished attaining a minimum alcohol level of 11%. * Velletri DOC - Based around the town of

Velletri Velletri (; ; ) is an Italian ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome, approximately 40 km to the southeast of the city centre, located in the Alban Hills, in the region of Lazio, central Italy. Neighbouring communes are Rocca di Papa, Lar ...

in the

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

region. The white are primarily composed of Malvasia Bianca di Candida (up to 70%) with Verdeca, Trebbiano and

Giallo In Italian cinema, (; : ; from , ) is a genre that often contains Slasher film, slasher, thriller (genre), thriller, psychological horror, psychological thriller, Sexploitation film, sexploitation, and, less frequently, supernatural, supernat ...

permitted up to 30% total and

Bellone Bellone is a white Italian wine grape variety that wine historians believed was cultivated in Roman times. By 1990, nearly of the variety was still being cultivated and eligible to be blended in the wines of several Latium ''Denominazione di ori ...

and Bombino bianco permitted up to 10%. Grapes destined for DOC wines must be kept to a maximum yield of 16 tonnes/ha with the finished wine attaining a minimum alcohol level of 11%. * Vesuvio DOC - Large DOC based in the

volcanic soils The soil composition of vineyards is one of the most important viticultural considerations when planting grape vines. The soil supports the root structure of the vine and influences the drainage levels and amount of minerals and nutrients that the ...

around Mt. Vesuvius. The white wines are composed primarily of Coda di Volpe (35-80%) with Verdeca permitted up to 45% and Falanghina and Greco up to 20%. Grapes destined for DOC wines must be kept to a maximum yield of 10 tonnes/ha with the finished product attaining a minimum alcohol level of 11%. The sweet dessert wine Lacryma Christi can also be produced under the same DOC blend/requirements of the white wine with the finished wine needing to reach a minimum alcohol level of 12%.

Wine styles

While used mostly as blending variety, Verdeca on its own can produce minerally wines that tend to have a "

flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...

y" note. The grape ripens very late and even in the very warm regions of southern Italy tends to have fairly 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 green, vegetal notes.

Synonyms

Over the years Verdeca has been known under a variety of synonyms including: Albese bianco, Albina verde, Alvino verde, Biancolina, Carosella, Primarulo, San Gennaro, Tivolese, Uva marana, Verdacchio, Verde, Verdea, Verdera, Verdesca, Verdicchio bianco, Verdicchio femmina, Verdicchio Verde, Verdicchio Peloso, Verdichio Tirolese, Verdichio Tivolese, Verdicella, Verdigno, Verdisco, Verdisco bianco, Verdisio bianco, Verdolino, Verdone and Vino verde.

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)
Verdeca
' Accessed: July 7th, 2012

References

{{reflist White wine grape varieties