Vespolina is a red Italian wine grape variety that is planted in Piedmont around

Gattinara Gattinara ( pms, Gatinera) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Vercelli in the Italian region of Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about north of Vercelli. As of December 31, 2004, it had a population of 8,506 and an ...

and

Ghemme Ghemme is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Novara in the Italian region Piedmont, located on the river Sesia about northeast of Turin and about northwest of Novara. It is the birthplace of architect Alessandro Antonelli ...

. Ampelographer believe that the grape is most likely indigenous to this area of Piedmont and recent

DNA profiling DNA profiling (also called DNA fingerprinting) is the process of determining an individual's DNA characteristics. DNA analysis intended to identify a species, rather than an individual, is called DNA barcoding. DNA profiling is a forensic tec ...

identified a parent-offspring relationship with Nebbiolo. Outside Piedmont it is found in the

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

region of Oltrepò Pavese where the grape is known as Ughetta. J. Robinson (ed) ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'' Third Edition pg 733 Oxford University Press 2006 In

, Vespolina is sometimes blended with Nebbiolo and Bonarda Piemontese. J. Robinson ''Jancis Robinson's Wine Course'' Third Edition pg 153 Abbeville Press 2003 Unlike the white Italian grape

Vespaiolo Vespaiola is a white Italian wine grape variety planted primarily in the Veneto region of northeastern Italy, where it is often dried to produce ''passito'' style dessert wines. Along with Friulano, Vespaiola is an important component in the ...

, the root of the name Vespolina does not have a direct connection with ''vespe'' or wasp. However the true origins of the name are still unclear. Oz Clarke ''Encyclopedia of Grapes'' pg 273 Harcourt Books 2001

Relationship to other grapes

Through its parent-offspring relationship with Nebbiolo, Vespolina is a half-sibling of several Piemontese wine grape varieties including: Bubbierasco,

Brugnola Brugnola is a red Italian wine grape variety that is grown in the Lombardy wine region of Valtellina. While historically, Brugnola was thought to be a local synonym for Emilia-Romagna wine grape Fortana, DNA analysis has shown that the two grap ...

, Freisa, Nebbiolo rosé, Negretta, Neretto di Bairo and Rossola nera.Ian D'Agata ''Native Wine Grapes of Italy'', pg 476 University of California Press 2014

Synonyms

The grape Vespolina is known under a variety of

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

s. These include Balsamina, Canneta, Croattina, Guzetta, Guzitta, Guzzetta, Inzaga, Inzagre, Massana, Nespolina, Nespolino, Novarina, Solenga, Ughetta, Ughetta di Caneto, Ughetta di Canetto, Ughetta di Canneto, Ughetta di Fassolo, Ughetta di Solenga, Uva Cinerina, Uva Rara, Uvetta, Uvetto, Vespolino, Visparola and Vispavola.

References

{{reflist Red wine grape varieties