Just as in the modern musical tradition there are singers with vocals reminiscent of blacks, so there are white grape varieties-very traditional and territorial-from which white wines are produced that look like reds.
Do you remember Joe Cocker? The “gas station attendant from Sheffield?” He was a white English singer with a rough, powerful voice of a true bluesman. Among Italians we might remember Mario Biondi, Fausto Leali, Zucchero, Mia Martini, Vasco Rossi, Ligabue. Great performers, with a vocality somehow reminiscent of African-American music and tones.
What does this have to do with wine? I try to explain. There are Italian white berry varieties that are not aromatic, fail to form many volatile thiols in fermentation, are essentially neutral. However, from them we get wines with great flavor and sometimes even with some hint of astringency, due to the catechins present and the tannins in the grape seeds. They are reminiscent in their expression of red wines. Like those white singers who play “black” music like the blues, in short.
What are they? Albana, first of all, then Grechetto, Greco, many Trebbiano, Garganega, Ansonica to give examples, but there are many more. All very traditional and “territorial”, resulting in particularly original white wines that are decidedly different from those made from so-called “international” grape varieties such as Chardonnay and Sauvignon in the first place.
They may not have particular varietal expressions, but, as Professor Moio often reminds us, they are perfect interpreters of terroir. Precisely because of their being almost neutral in smell but very expressive in taste.
And the next time you drink an Albana di Romagna try listening to a piece by Joe Cocker, or Zucchero, to stay in the region. You will enjoy it more and easily understand why she is also A white man singing the blues.
