Favorita is a white Italian wine

Italian wine

Italian wine is wine produced in Italy, a country which is home to some of the oldest wine-producing regions in the world. Italy is the world's largest wine producer, responsible for approximately one-fifth of world wine production in 2005. Italian wine is exported largely around the world and has...

 grape grown primarily in the Piedmont region. It is most widely planted on the left bank of the Tanaro river

Tanaro River

The Tanaro , known as Tanarus in ancient times, is a 276 km-long river in northwestern Italy. It rises in the Ligurian Alps, close to the border with France and is the most significant right-side tributary to the Po in terms of length, size of drainage basin and discharge.-Source:The Tanaro proper...

 in the Roero

Roero

Roero is a geographical area in the north-east corner of the province of Cuneo in Piedmont, north-west Italy. This hilly region is known for its wines and for its fruit production: particularly the peaches of Canale and the local variety of pear known as Madernassa which originated in the late...

 district near Alba

Alba

Alba is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. It is cognate to Alba in Irish and Nalbin in Manx, the two other Goidelic Insular Celtic languages, as well as similar words in the Brythonic Insular Celtic languages of Cornish and Welsh also meaning Scotland.- Etymology :The term first appears in...

, though some plantings exist on the right bank of the Tanaro in the Langhe

Langhe

The Langhe is a hilly area to the south and east of the river Tanaro in the province of Cuneo in Piedmont, northern Italy....

 hills. Recent DNA profiling shows that Favorita is related to the Liguria grapes Pigato

Pigato

Pigato is a white Italian wine grape planted primarily in Liguria. As a varietal, Pigato produces highly aromatic wines....

 and Vermentino

Vermentino

Vermentino is a late-ripening white grape variety, primarily found in Italian wine. It is widely planted in Sardinia, in Liguria primarily under the name Pigato, to some extent in Corsica, in Piedmont under the name Favorita, and in increasing amounts in Languedoc-Roussillon. The leaves are dark...

, which may support the theory that the grape originated there. Since the late 20th century, plantings of Favorita have been on the decline as Chardonnay

Chardonnay

Chardonnay is a green-skinned grape variety used to make white wine. It is originated from the Burgundy wine region of eastern France but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand...

 and Arneis

Arneis

Arneis is a white Italian wine grape variety originating from Piedmont, Italy. It is most commonly found in the hills of the Roero, northwest of Alba, where it is part of the white Denominazione di origine controllata wines of Roero. It can also be used to produce DOC wines in Langhe...

 have increased in popularity among producers on the right and left bank of the Tanaro respectively. Featuring larger berry

Berry

The botanical definition of a berry is a fleshy fruit produced from a single ovary. Grapes are an example. The berry is the most common type of fleshy fruit in which the entire ovary wall ripens into an edible pericarp. They may have one or more carpels with a thin covering and fleshy interiors....

 sizes than most wine grapes, Favorita has been a popular table grape

Table grape

Table grapes are grapes intended for consumption while they are fresh, as opposed to grapes grown for wine production, juice production, or for drying into raisins....

 in Piedmont.

History

Favorita has long been closely associated with the Ligurian grape Vermentino, with some early ampelographers theorizing that the two grapes were one and the same. In 1964, the Italian Ministry of Agriculture determined that there were enough differences in the buds, clusters and leaves

Leaves

-History:Vocalist Arnar Gudjonsson was formerly the guitarist with Mower, and he was joined by Hallur Hallsson , Arnar Ólafsson , Bjarni Grímsson , and Andri Ásgrímsson . Late in 2001 they played with Emiliana Torrini and drew early praise from the New York Times...

 of the two vines to officially classify them as separate grape varieties. In recent years, DNA profiling has shown Favorita to be related to Vermentino, as well as Pigato, but confirmed it as a distinct variety.

Wines

Favorita wines are noted for their intense pear

Pear

The pear is any of several tree species of genus Pyrus and also the name of the pomaceous fruit of these trees. Several species of pear are valued by humans for their edible fruit, but the fruit of other species is small, hard, and astringent....

 notes and an ability to age longer than Arneis. The grapes tend to ripen late and maintain a fair amount of acidity. Historically it has been used as a blending partner with Nebbiolo to soften that grape's harsh tannins. When planted on warm climate sites, the Favorita can develop minerality and notes of sea salt

Sea salt

Sea salt, salt obtained by the evaporation of seawater, is used in cooking and cosmetics. It is historically called bay salt or solar salt...

. Exposure to oak barrel aging can give the wine a rounder mouthfeel.