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Pignolo grape has ancient origins from Friuli. Indeed since the Middle Ages there were reports of the existence of a wine of that name, which was produced in the countryside around Udine. Pignolo derives from “pigna”, pine cone, and there are different grape varieties whose name has this root, so the confusion happens quite often. Friulian Pignolo is often confused with the Pignola Valtellinese, which has little in common with Pignolo apart from the etymology of the name and the color of the berry.
Pignolo is only Friulian: it was originally grown in areas around the abbey of Abbazia di Rosazzo and was seriously threatened with extinction. Some progressive-thinking producers from the area between Rosazzo, Buttrio and Premariacco have helped to save this vine and the wine that they get stand for quality and longevity.
The berry of Pignolo grape is black, small and round with waxy, thick, black skin. The cluster is small, cylindrical, simple, and tight with a small, three-lobed or five-lobed leaf. Its production is scarce but regular.
Pignolo grape gives a light ruby red wine, with fruity notes of cherry. It has good flavor and is suitable for aging.
The Pinella vine has uncertain origins. It seems to have been identified for the first time in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia, where it is almost gone now. Instead, it is present in Veneto, in Padua, especially in the area of the Euganean Hills, where it is vinified typically blended with other local varieties to give young wines, fresh and tasty.
The berry is white, medium, spheroid or slightly ovoid for the highly compact. The peel is thin, not very consistent and a little waxy, of golden yellow color, which tends to copper when it is fully ripe. The bunch is medium or small, cone shaped, stocky, very compact and often with a wing. The leaf is medium, pentagonal, and three-lobed.
The Pinella grape gives a pale yellow wine. The fragrance is floral and fruity with some hints of grapefruit. The taste is dry, fairly soft, rightly savory and fresh. It has good body and is pretty persistent with return to the pineapple smell taste. The finish is slightly almond which makes the olfactory taste of discreet refinement.
The grape Pinot Blanc or Pinot Bianco is, in all probability, a genetic mutation of Pinot Noir or Pinot Grigio. It is part of the so-called "international" grapes , of French origin, but widely cultivated around the world and in Italy the Pinot Bianco grape goes back to the 800 and has spread in a wide range of regions, from Sicily to Friuli Venezia Giulia, and used in many wine appellations, but the best examples come from Friuli Venezia Giulia and Trentino Alto Adige.
It is a very early ripe grape variety and this makes it suitable for cultivation in regions considered "extreme " for viticulture, for example Alsace in France and Germany.
The Pinot Bianco grape produces medium to full bodied wines, elegant wines, with good acidity and responds well to oak aging. The Pinot Bianco grape is also used in the production of classic method sparkling wines, most notably the Franciacorta, together with Pinot Nero and Chardonnay
Pinot Grigio is a white grape variety resulting from a genetic mutation of Pinot Noir and belongs to the group of the so-called "international" varieties, of French origin, but widely cultivated around the world.
In Italy, the grape is widely cultivated in the north east of the country, with mainly mass production with exceptions in Veneto, and if the latter is the most important region for the grape in terms of quantity, the best Pinot grigio wines are made from grape grown in Friuli Venezia Giulia, especially the Collio area, and Trentino Alto Adige, where it produces great wines, with elegance and structure.
For many years Pinot grigio has been one of the most popular Italian wines abroad, however, due to poor quality wines, it has lost interest and market share. Recently a new appellation called Pinot Grigio delle Venezie DOC has been created with the aim of bringing the wine to its former glory.
The Pinot grigio grape natural color is copper and the wine is often made white, but if vinified in contact with the skins it takes up its onion skin color.
The Pinot Noir or Nero grape is considered one of the noblest red grape worldwide (the only possible comparison is with the Nebbiolo) and is another variety that belongs to the so called "international" grapes of French origin, but widely cultivated around the world.
Pinot Nero is a difficult grape to grow and wine to make and it is a challenge for every wine maker with results varying from vintage to vintage and area to area. The Pinot Nero is a grape variety very sensitive to the terroir, for which you get a lot of different interpretations depending on where the grapes are grown and the land and soil characteristics and for all these reasons, the Pinot Nero is, for consumers and professionals alike, when well made, a joy to drink wine and because of its quality has created some of the greatest red wines in the world.
Pinot Noir or Nero is also widely used in classic method sparkling wines, from Champagne to Franciacorta, a DOCG Italian classic method sparkling wine made in Lombardy, and has produced outstanding sparkling wines proving itself a very versatile grape. In Italy the grape is cultivated in the north, mainly in Trentino Alto Adige with isolated winemakers in other regions as south as Tuscany and there are some seriously good Pinot Nero still wines being made.
It is almost certain that Pollera nera has its origins in Liguria, especially since there are testimonies from the 19th century about its cultivation in the Cinque Terre area and in the high Lunigiana, in the province of La Spezia from where it has been spreading to the lower Magra Valle. Today it is present mainly in the vineyards of the Lunigiana and in the area bordering Tuscany, in Massa-Carrara area.
Pollera nera has a black, medium, round or very short ellipsoidal berry sometimes deformed by the compactness of the bunch. Its peel is fine, very waxy and gray-violet. The bunch is medium-large, compact, often winged with a medium-small, three-lobed or five-lobed leaf.
This variety doesn’t have any special requirements regarding soil and climatic factors. Its production is abundant and quite regular.
Pollera nera gives a ruby red wine, light-bodied, simple, to drink young.
The Prié blanc grape is a native of Valle d'Aosta, but its origins are still uncertain. It could have come from the Savoy area or the Valais, but in any case it has been present in the territory for a long time and this is where the vine has undergone genetic mutations that led it to take on the current characteristics.
Like all varieties that can adapt to extreme conditions, even the Prié blanc has early maturity and a strong acidity. This and its resistance to spring frosts meant that the Prié blanc can also be grown over 1000 meters of altitude, something considered prohibitive for most of the traditional varieties.
The “extreme” environment and altitude where it is grown allowed the vine to resist the attacks of phylloxera.
The berry is white, medium, round with slightly waxy, thin and translucent, pale golden yellow skin. The bunch is medium, cylindrical-conical, usually winged, medium tight with a medium-small, three-lobed or five-lobed leaf.
The Prié blanc grape variety has medium vigor, early ripening, production generally abundant and regular.
The vine Prié blanc gives a pale yellow wine with greenish reflections. The scent is fine and delicate, fruity and herbaceous, with notes of hay just cut. The taste is fresh and dry. Suitable for both still and sparkling wines.
The Prié rouge vine is native of the Aosta Valley, also known as Prëmetta and it is believed to have originated from a mutation of the Prié blanc.
Currently, this grape with a pink berry, after risking extinction, it is being replanted and occupies a fairly narrow area that stretches from Aosta to Avise, with a relative concentration in the old vineyards in Aymavilles.
The grape acidity makes it suitable for producing sparkling wines, while in still wines, the rather exuberant tannin suggests a short aging before consumption.
The Prié rouge berry is pink, medium to large, ovoid with medium soft, very waxy, pinkish or sometimes purplish skin. The bunch is large, pyramidal, winged, medium compact with a medium-large, pentagonal, three-lobed or entire leaf.and an early ripening.
The Prié rouge grape produces wines with a light cherry colour with orange hues. The nose is captivating, delicate, with floral and fruity notes. The palate is fresh, full-bodied, tannic with moderate alcohol content.
The Primitivo red grape variety is grown all over the south of Italy, from Abruzzo to Basilicata, from Sardinia to Campania, but it is Apulia, Puglia in Italian, that can be considered its home, where it is widely grown and produces the best wines, in particular in the Manduria area.
The origin of the Primitivo grapes are uncertain, but are believed to be of Dalmatian provenance, brought in Puglia by the ancient Illyrian people more than 2000 years ago in the Gioia del Colle area. Its name derives from the early ripening of the grape, the name Primitivo translates roughly as "early one", primi, primo, first.
In the early 19th Century, the Primitivo variety was also introduced in to the United States under the name of Zinfandel where it proved extremely successful, but it was only discovered when DNA analysis showed that Zinfandel and Primitivo were actually the same variety.
Primitivo has endured something of a rollercoaster in the past few decades. In the 1990s, because of its characteristics, Primitivo was mainly used in blends to add color, tannins and alcohol to less gifted grapes, but in the last decade, Primitivo has been enjoying a sort of renaissance and has become one of the Southern Italy’s most known grape and wine and certainly Apulia’s flagship.
Primitivo is produced all over the Apulia region under the IGT appellation, except Manduria, which Primitivo is the only DOC wine. Primitivo di Manduria are made from Primitivo grape grown in and around Manduria, a city located in the province of Taranto facing the Gulf, where Primitivo wines are objectively a step above all other IGT Primitivo wines, they have more elegance and structure and often reach and go above ABV 16% depending on the vintage.
The Primitivo grape produces very intense, dark ruby red wines with a spicy and fruity nose. On the palate is warm, soft, tannic with great structure and persistence and high alcohol content.
Prosecco is an Italian sparkling wine appellation that can be both DOC and DOCG depending on where the vineyards are located, produced from Glera grapes (previously known as Prosecco) and its name is thought to come from Prosecco, an Italian village at the heart of the Prosecco region, where the grape is thought to have originated from.
The change of name for the grape, from Prosecco to Glera, was a consequence of the Prosecco becoming DOC and DOCG and therefore a protected name in Europe under European law, making essentially illegal for wines produced outside the Prosecco region in the North East of Italy to be labeled as Prosecco. Before Prosecco became protected, any wine made with Prosecco grape, anywhere in the world, could have been called Prosecco. And whilst the protection applies within the EU, it doesn’t outside. In Australia, Prosecco grapes are grown and bottled as Prosecco, but these bottles cannot be imported and sold in the EU, but are in Australia and in other countries.
While the status of Prosecco Superiore DOCG has only been given to sparkling wines made in the Valdobbiadene, Cartizze and Asolo areas, the DOC status comprises sparkling wines made with glera grapes grown in a wider area, made of 3 regions, Veneto, Trentino and Friuli, essentially the whole northeast of Italy. Any sparkling wine made with Glera grapes grown outside the area cannot be called Prosecco, it may be called Glera or any other name, and the label would include the word "spumante", to indicate that it is a sparkling wine.
Prosecco is a sparkling wine made following the method Charmat or Martinotti, the Italian who originally developed the method, with the fermentation taking place in stainless steel tanks and lasting anything between 30 days to 3 months, the longer the fermentation the better is the quality of the sparkling wine.
Prosecco is an aromatic and light sparkling white wine, crispy and refreshing, delicate, light, unlike Classic Method sparkling wines that have much more structure and dept, like Franciacorta
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