The pick of Italy’s indigenous grapes

Roughly 28% of the world’s wine grapes are Italian, and even though many of these varieties are reduced to scattered plots of vines here and there, Italy makes wine in commercially relevant numbers from many of them. In other words, there is a very practical significance to Italy’s large number of native varieties – unlike the often anecdotal or academic interest in native wine grapes of many other countries.

Ever since I wrote Native Wine Grapes of Italy, indigenous grapes and their wines have piqued the interest of wine experts and wine lovers worldwide. The book helped, but with our increasing appetite for authenticity in the glass, it was only a matter of time before Italy’s native wine grapes claimed their day in the sun.

Native wine grapes hail from a particular place and region, and express a terroir unlike that of grapes cultivated anywhere else in the world. They are also specifically adapted to the environment in which they grow, representing the most ecologically friendly agriculture possible. In addition, they are intimately associated with the local culture, history, tradition and people.

In a world where sourcing local ingredients is all important, native grapes were in the right place at the right time. They are used to make wines that, in Italy (and elsewhere), are almost always wildly more interesting than the eminently forgettable Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Petit Verdot and Syrah wines made across the globe, all in the same formulaic manner.

Twenty years ago, you would not have been able to find more than two or three varietal wines (and in some cases, none at all) made from the likes of Bellone, Carricante, Grignolino, Nerello Mascalese, Nascetta, Pecorino, Timorasso and a slew of other noble Italian wine grapes that had fallen completely by the wayside. Often, such grapes did not measure up to growers’ expectations of disease resistance and copious yields.

At the same time, native grapes were seen as good only for inexpensive quaffers of no consequence. Now, though, the likes of Barbera, Montepulciano, Nerello Cappuccio, Monica, Nasco and Perricone have finally been studied and reassessed. Today, there are more than 60 Pecorino wines, 30-plus Timorasso wines and about the same number of Nascetta wines. Grape varieties people never imagined were capable of giving age-worthy wines are now proving everyone wrong – who imagined a wine made with Grignolino could age and improve after 15 years of cellaring?

Wines made with native grapes are starting to command increasingly high prices – a surefire sign of increased consumer interest. In fact, native Italian wine grapes are now so popular that many of them are coming to be regarded as international. The global vineyard area devoted to the likes of Barbera, Fiano and Montepulciano still lags way behind, but it is increasing steadily, from Australia to Chile to California.

Every day, many new wines made with indigenous grapes are hitting store shelves, wine lists and collectors’ cellars around the world. Clearly, these wines all differ, given the huge diversity in terroir, but most are at the very least interesting, and at best excellent and exciting – and worthy of a grander stage than grandmother’s table. The return to prominence of Italy’s native grapes is a win-win situation for all – here are 10 excellent examples to try (note: the grape variety is indicated in brackets after the vintage).