Drupeggio (also known as Canaiolo bianco) is a white

Italian wine Italian wine is produced in every region of Italy. Italy is the world's largest producer of wine, with an area of under vineyard cultivation, and contributing a 2013–2017 annual average of 48.3 million hl of wine. In 2018 Italy accounted fo ...

grape variety This list of grape varieties includes cultivated grapes, whether used for wine, or eating as a table grape, fresh or dried (raisin, currant, sultana). For a complete list of all grape species including those unimportant to agriculture, see Viti ...

that is grown in the Central Italy wine regions of

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

and Orvieto. The grape is often confused for the white Tuscan variety

Vernaccia di San Gimignano Vernaccia is a white Italian wine, made from the Vernaccia grape, produced in and around the Italian hill town of San Gimignano in Tuscany. It was the first Italian wine to be awarded ''Denominazione di Origine Controllata'' (DOC) status in 1966; ...

,J. Robinson, J. Harding and J. Vouillamoz ''Wine Grapes - A complete guide to 1,368 vine varieties, including their origins and flavours'' pgs 311-312 Allen Lane 2012 which is also known under the synonym ''Canaiolo bianco''

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 Gei ...

(VIVC)
Vernaccia di San Gimignano
'' Accessed: November 26th, 2013 and may be counted as one and the same in

field blend Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...

s. Drupeggio is a permitted variety in several ''

Denominazione di origine controllata The following four classifications of wine constitute the Italian system of labelling and legally protecting Italian wine: * ''Denominazione di origine'' (DO, rarely used; ; English: “designation of origin”), * ''Indicazione geografica tipi ...

'' (DOC)s including Orvieto in

Umbria it, Umbro (man) it, Umbra (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , ...

where it is usually blended with Trebbiano,

Verdello Verdello ( Bergamasque: ) is a ''comune'' in the province of Bergamo, Lombardy, Italy. It has a population of 6,494. Twin towns — sister cities Verdello is twinned with: * Balaruc-les-Bains, France Transportation * Verdello-Dalmine railwa ...

Grechetto Grechetto () or Grechetto bianco is a white Italian wine grape variety of Greek origins. The grape is planted throughout central Italy, particularly in the Umbria region where it is used in the ''Denominazione di origine controllata'' (DOC) win ...

and Malvasia Toscana and in the red and '' rosé'' wines of Barco Reale di Carmignano where it can blended with

Sangiovese Sangiovese (, also , , ) is a red Italian wine grape variety that derives its name from the Latin ''sanguis Jovis'', "the blood of Jupiter". Though it is the grape of most of central Italy from Romagna down to Lazio (the most widespread grape ...

and Cabernet Sauvignon. It is also a permitted variety for use in

Vin Santo Vin Santo ("holy wine") is a style of Italian dessert wine. Traditional in Tuscany, these wines are often made from white grape varieties such as Trebbiano and Malvasia, though Sangiovese may be used to produce a ''rosé'' style known as "Oc ...

production but the grape's limited ability to raisin sufficiently for use in

straw wine Straw wine, or raisin wine, is a wine made from grapes that have been dried to concentrate their juice. The result is similar to that of the ice wine process, but is a much older process and suitable for warm climates. The technique dates bac ...

production makes its appearance in these Italian

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 meal ...

s very rare.

History

The first recorded mention of Drupeggio was in Tuscany under it is synonym Canaiolo bianco where it was recorded being used in wine production as early as 1817. Unlike the pink-skinned grape variety

Canaiolo rosa Canaiolo (; also called Canaiolo nero or Uva Canina) is a red Italian wine grape grown through Central Italy but is most noted in Tuscany. Other regions with plantings of Canaiolo include Lazio, Marche and Sardegna. In Umbria a white berried ...

, Canaiolo bianco is not a

color mutation The propagation of grapevines is an important consideration in commercial viticulture and winemaking. Grapevines, most of which belong to the ''Vitis vinifera'' family, produce one crop of fruit each growing season (vine), growing season with a lim ...

of the red Tuscan wine grape

Canaiolo Canaiolo (; also called Canaiolo nero or Uva Canina) is a red Italian wine grape grown through Central Italy but is most noted in Tuscany. Other regions with plantings of Canaiolo include Lazio, Marche and Sardegna. In Umbria a white ber ...

that can be used in the blended wines of

Chianti A Chianti wine (, also , ) is any wine produced in the Chianti region of central Tuscany. It was historically associated with a squat bottle enclosed in a straw basket, called a ''fiasco'' ("flask"; ''pl. fiaschi''). However, the ''fiasco'' is ...

. The exact origins of the variety is not known but DNA profiling completed in 2011 show that at least six different white grape varieties growing in Tuscany have been variously labeled as being Canaiolo bianco—the most notable being the Vernaccia di San Gimignano variety that is widely used in the ''

Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita The following four classifications of wine constitute the Italian system of labelling and legally protecting Italian wine: * ''Denominazione di origine'' (DO, rarely used; ; English: “designation of origin”), * ''Indicazione geografica tipi ...

'' (DOCG) of the same name. Other varieties that are sometimes confused with Drupeggio include

Vermentino Vermentino is a light-skinned wine grape variety, primarily found in Italian wine. It is widely planted in both Sardinia and Liguria (wine), Liguria, to some extent in Corsica, in Piedmont under the name Favorita, and in increasing amounts in Lan ...

and the virtually extinct Tuscan variety of Zuccaccio.

Viticulture

Drupeggio is a mid to late ripening grape variety. With relatively thick skins for a white grape variety, Druppeggio berries tend not to raisin very easily which makes it use in the production of ''passito'' or straw wines, such as Vin Santo, very rare even though it is a permitted variety in several DOCs for the dessert wine. While several grape varieties, particularly in Tuscan, are known under the synonym of ''Canaiolo bianco'', the clone ''Canaiolo bianco ARSIAL-CRA 402'' is the only official clone of Canaiolo bianco that is actually Drupeggio.

Wine regions

Drupeggio is almost exclusively found in its home land of Italy where it is planted across the central part of the region from the

Molise it, Molisano (man) it, Molisana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 ...

and Marche of eastern Italy to the

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

and Tuscan regions in the west. Due to its confusion with other grape varieties, particularly Vernaccia di San Gimignano in Tuscany, it is difficult to get an exact number of plantings with the 2000 census reporting and likely including some of the "other" Canaiolo biancos in the total. OrvietoWineAndDuomo

The vast majority of "true" Drupeggio plantings are found in the Umbria region where it can be an important blending variety in the wines of Orvieto. Here Drupeggio, along with Grechetto and Malvasia Toscana, can make up to 20-30% of the blend along with Trebbiano (50-65%) and Verdello (15-25%).P. Saunders ''Wine Label Language'' pg 189 Firefly Books 2004 Outside of Umbria, it is found in the provinces of

Firenze Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

Grosseto Grosseto () is a city and ''comune'' in the central Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of the Province of Grosseto. The city lies from the Tyrrhenian Sea, in the Maremma, at the centre of an alluvial plain on the Ombrone river. It is the ...

and Pistoia where it is permitted to be blended with Malvasia and Trebbiano in several Tuscan DOCs. In the

Carmignano Carmignano is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Prato, part of the Italian region Tuscany. It is located about west of Florence and about southwest of Prato. It is the centre of the wine region of the same name. Geography C ...

region, up to 10% of Drupeggio is permitted to be used in the red and rosé wines of the "declassified" DOC of Barco Reale where it may be blended with Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, Canaiolo nero, Trebbiano and Cabernet Franc.

Synonyms

Over the years, Drupeggio has been known under a variety of synonyms including: Bottaio bianco (in Tuscany), Cacinello, Cacciumo (in the

province of Campobasso A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...

, Canaiolo bianco, Canajola, Canina (in the

province of Ascoli Piceno The province of Ascoli Piceno ( it, Provincia di Ascoli Piceno) is a province in the Marche region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Ascoli Piceno, and the province is bordered by the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Province of Fermo to the nor ...

in the Marche), Drupeccio (in Orvieto), Lupeccio, Trupeccio (in Orvieto), Uva dei Cani (in Ascoli Piceno) and Volpicchio (in Tuscany).

(VIVC)
Drupeggio
'' Accessed: November 26th, 2013

References

{{reflist White wine grape varieties