Vespaiola
Encyclopedia
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 Denominazione di origine controllata
(DOC) white wine of Breganze
produced in the province of Vicenza
.
Vespaiola grapes ripen to high sugar levels and are used to produce sweet wines with a characteristic golden hue. In fact, the grapes of Vespaiola get so concentrated with sugars that the name Vespaiola comes from Vespa
in reference to wasps that are attracted to the sugary aromas in vineyards.
Despite its similar sounding name, Vespaiola should not be confused with red Italian wine grape, Vespolina
, which is grown in the Piedmont
and Lombardy
regions.
, contains a significant number of plantings of Vespaiola where the grape can be included in the generic Breganze blend or produced in a varietal
style. To be included in the DOC wine, the grapes must be harvested up to a maximum yield
14 tonnes/hectare
(13 tonnes for the varietal style) with the finished wine fermented to a minimum alcohol level of 11% (11.5% for the varietal style).
For the Breganze white blend, up to 15% Vespaiola is permitted to blended primarily with Friulano with Pinot bianco, Pinot grigio, Riesling Italico and Sauvignon blanc
also potentially included in the blend. The varietal style Vespaiola must be made entirely of the single variety, harvested to more limited yields and produced with a higher alcohol level. A superiore style is also permitted if the wine achieves at least a 12% alcohol level. When Vespaiola is used to produce a dessert style wine from partially dried grapes (a passito) it maybe labeled as Torcolato.
vespa and refers to the wasps that are attracted to the high sugar content in the grapes as they ripen late into the growing season. The wasps' presence can be considered a viticultural hazard due to not only their propensity to damage the grapes in order to get to the sweet pulp inside but also the danger they may cause to vineyard workers in the area.
In vintages where the climate conditions are favorable, the grapes maybe left on the vine to desiccate and further concentrate the sugars well into January. They could also be harvested earlier and left to dry inside special drying rooms where they are may be hung from the ceilings or spread out on mats to dry.
Even with the long ripening periods and high sugar concentrations, the Vespaiola grape can still maintain a relatively high level of acidity that can help balance the sweetness in the resulting wines. After fermentation
, some producers will age the wines in oak barrels.
describes as "one of Italy's finest sweet wines." In recent years, producers in Berganze have experimented with producing Sauternes
-style wine from Vespaiola, Friulano and other white grapes that have been infected with Botrytis cinerea
.
While Vespaiola is often used to produce sweet dessert wines, it can also be fermented to dryness where it usually produces a light-bodied wines with high acidity and very little of the aroma notes that tend to characterize the grape's sweeter incarnations.
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 variety planted primarily in the Veneto region of northeastern Italy where it is often dried to produce passito style dessert wines. Along with Friulano
Friulano
Friulano is the name of a firm cow's milk cheese made in Canada named after the Friuli region of Italy. It is rindless and interior-ripened with a yellow surface and interior. It is salty and tastes slightly of hazelnut...
, Vespaiola is an important component in the Denominazione di origine controllata
Denominazione di Origine Controllata
Denominazione di origine controllata is a quality assurance label for food products, especially wines and various formaggi . It is modelled after the French AOC...
(DOC) white wine of Breganze
Breganze
Breganze is a town in the province of Vicenza, Veneto, Italy. It is northeast of Via Roma. During World War II, the Germans were on one side of the river and the Allies were on the other, and a firefight occurred across the river.-Breganze DOC:...
produced in the province of Vicenza
Province of Vicenza
The Province of Vicenza is a province in the Veneto region of northern Italy. Its capital city is Vicenza.The province has an area of 2,723 km², and a total population of 840,000 . There are 121 comuni in the province...
.
Vespaiola grapes ripen to high sugar levels and are used to produce sweet wines with a characteristic golden hue. In fact, the grapes of Vespaiola get so concentrated with sugars that the name Vespaiola comes from Vespa
Wasp
The term wasp is typically defined as any insect of the order Hymenoptera and suborder Apocrita that is neither a bee nor an ant. Almost every pest insect species has at least one wasp species that preys upon it or parasitizes it, making wasps critically important in natural control of their...
in reference to wasps that are attracted to the sugary aromas in vineyards.
Despite its similar sounding name, Vespaiola should not be confused with red Italian wine grape, Vespolina
Vespolina
Vespolina is a red Italian wine grape variety that is planted in Piedmont around Gattinara. Ampelographer believe that the grape is most likely indigenous to this area of Piedmont and recent DNA profiling identified a parent-offspring relationship with Nebbiolo. Outside of Piedmont, it is found in...
, which is grown in the Piedmont
Piedmont
Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...
and Lombardy
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
regions.
Wine regions
The Breganze DOC, located in the foothills of the AlpsAlps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
, contains a significant number of plantings of Vespaiola where the grape can be included in the generic Breganze blend or produced in a varietal
Varietal
"Varietal" describes wines made primarily from a single named grape variety, and which typically displays the name of that variety on the wine label. Examples of grape varieties commonly used in varietal wines are Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Merlot...
style. To be included in the DOC wine, the grapes must be harvested up to a maximum yield
Yield (wine)
In viticulture, the yield is a measure of the amount of grapes or wine that is produced per unit surface of vineyard, and is therefore a type of crop yield...
14 tonnes/hectare
Hectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...
(13 tonnes for the varietal style) with the finished wine fermented to a minimum alcohol level of 11% (11.5% for the varietal style).
For the Breganze white blend, up to 15% Vespaiola is permitted to blended primarily with Friulano with Pinot bianco, Pinot grigio, Riesling Italico and Sauvignon blanc
Sauvignon blanc
Sauvignon Blanc is a green-skinned grape variety which originates from the Bordeaux region of France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French word sauvage and blanc due to its early origins as an indigenous grape in South West France., a possible descendant of savagnin...
also potentially included in the blend. The varietal style Vespaiola must be made entirely of the single variety, harvested to more limited yields and produced with a higher alcohol level. A superiore style is also permitted if the wine achieves at least a 12% alcohol level. When Vespaiola is used to produce a dessert style wine from partially dried grapes (a passito) it maybe labeled as Torcolato.
DOC regions
The following is a list of DOC wines, beyond Breganze, that include Vespaiola as a permitted grape variety, along with other grapes that may be included in the blend under varying percentages that are regulated under the DOC label.- Bagnolo di Sopra DOC – Primarily ChardonnayChardonnayChardonnay 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...
, Sauvignon blancSauvignon blancSauvignon Blanc is a green-skinned grape variety which originates from the Bordeaux region of France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French word sauvage and blanc due to its early origins as an indigenous grape in South West France., a possible descendant of savagnin...
and FriulanoFriulanoFriulano is the name of a firm cow's milk cheese made in Canada named after the Friuli region of Italy. It is rindless and interior-ripened with a yellow surface and interior. It is salty and tastes slightly of hazelnut...
with up to 10% permitted to be Vespaiola and/or other local white grape varieties. - Merlara DOC – Primarily Friulano with up to 50% permitted to be Vespaiola and/or other local white grape varieties.
- Vicenza DOC – Primarily GarganegaGarganegaGarganega is a variety of white Italian wine grape widely grown in the Veneto region of North East Italy, particularly in the provinces of Verona and Vicenza. It is Italy's 6th most widely planted white grape...
with up to 50% permitted to be Vespaiola and/or other local white grape varieties.
Viticulture and winemaking
The name Vespaiola is derived from the LatinLatin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
vespa and refers to the wasps that are attracted to the high sugar content in the grapes as they ripen late into the growing season. The wasps' presence can be considered a viticultural hazard due to not only their propensity to damage the grapes in order to get to the sweet pulp inside but also the danger they may cause to vineyard workers in the area.
In vintages where the climate conditions are favorable, the grapes maybe left on the vine to desiccate and further concentrate the sugars well into January. They could also be harvested earlier and left to dry inside special drying rooms where they are may be hung from the ceilings or spread out on mats to dry.
Even with the long ripening periods and high sugar concentrations, the Vespaiola grape can still maintain a relatively high level of acidity that can help balance the sweetness in the resulting wines. After fermentation
Fermentation (wine)
The process of fermentation in wine turns grape juice into an alcoholic beverage. During fermentation, yeast interact with sugars in the juice to create ethanol, commonly known as ethyl alcohol, and carbon dioxide...
, some producers will age the wines in oak barrels.
Wine styles
The passito styles of Vespaiola are characterized by a golden color with aromas of apricots, honeysuckles and spice that can be a byproduct of aging in oak. The naturally high acidity of the grapes can help balance the high sugar content producing what wine expert Oz ClarkeOz Clarke
Robert "Oz" Clarke is a British wine writer, television presenter and broadcaster.-Biography:Clarke’s parents were a chest physician and a nursing sister. He was brought up near Canterbury with a brother and a sister. Clarke became a chorister at Canterbury Cathedral and subsequently won a choral...
describes as "one of Italy's finest sweet wines." In recent years, producers in Berganze have experimented with producing Sauternes
Sauternes (wine)
Sauternes is a French sweet wine from the Sauternais region of the Graves section in Bordeaux. Sauternes is made from Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc, and Muscadelle grapes that have been affected by Botrytis cinerea, also known as noble rot. This causes the grapes to become partially raisined,...
-style wine from Vespaiola, Friulano and other white grapes that have been infected with Botrytis cinerea
Botrytis cinerea
Botrytis cinerea is a necrotrophic fungus that affects many plant species, although its most notable hosts may be wine grapes. In viticulture, it is commonly known as botrytis bunch rot; in horticulture, it is usually called grey mould or gray mold.The fungus gives rise to two different kinds of...
.
While Vespaiola is often used to produce sweet dessert wines, it can also be fermented to dryness where it usually produces a light-bodied wines with high acidity and very little of the aroma notes that tend to characterize the grape's sweeter incarnations.