WINE AND NEW PERSPECTIVES: RESISTANT VARIETIES

If we try to imagine the future of wine in its various directions, one of these is certainly represented by the so-called PIWI. Bronner, Solaris, Johanniter, Soreli with white grapes and Cabernet Cortis, Cabernet Regent, Merlot Khantus, with red grapes, to name just a few of the most popular on the market. This is a category of vines that arise from multiple crossings carried out with the aim of combining quality and resistance to fungal diseases. We talk about the future because it is a typology closely connected to the theme of sustainability, so much so that it is also defined as super-organic. PIWIs, in fact, allow us to significantly reduce annual treatments in the vineyard.
Furthermore, these are varieties that allow production very far north in latitude, and very high in altitude, where it is not possible to obtain significant results with other vines. We have arrived, just to understand, on the one hand to cultivate vines in Poland, Sweden, Denmark, and on the other to exceed 800 and even 1,000 meters above sea level.

It is important to underline that PIWIs do not fall into the category of GMO. The crosses are not obtained in the laboratory, but are carried out directly in the vineyard, working with pollination and through a selection of seeds and plants. Same as for the french regions of Champagne and Bordeaux, in Italy have been included in the National Register 36 resistant varieties, both white and red. The latters, PIWI experiments began more recently and the results have wide margins for improvement. White grape varieties, on the other side, are those where the process is more consolidated and considerable quality levels have already been achieved in recent years.
In Italy the PIWI approach is becoming increasingly popular and the number of producers who choose to work with these typologies is constantly growing. In particular, the “Resistenti Nicola Biasi” reality is interesting, a network of companies made up of eight agricultural companies located between Friuli, Veneto and Trentino. At the helm of the group is Nicola Biasi, a winemaker with a professional career dotted with important stages. First the experiences to some reference
companies including Jermann, Felluga, Mazzei, Allegrini, followed by various international experiences in Australia and South Africa and many consultancies between Tuscany, Lazio, Veneto, Friuli and Trentino; then the role of coordinator of the Wine Research Team which, under the direction of Riccardo Cotarella and Attilio Scienza, conducts experiments and innovations, for example studying new wines produced without the use of added sulphites. The idea behind “Resistenti” is to combine the intrinsic sustainability value of PIWI with work oriented towards excellence and the opportunity to make the most of the potential of these new varieties in qualitative terms.

Among the realities of the “Resistenti” network, Nicola Biasi personally leads the “Vin de la Neu” project. In Italian it is the
wine of snow, so called because of the snowfall in October 2013 that arrived coinciding with the first harvest. We are in fact at high altitude, at over 800 meters above sea level, in the Val di Non, an area known above all for its apple orchards. The wine is the result of very high profile work, aimed at totally eliminating interventions in the vineyard and applied to a small surface
area of less than half a hectare. The PIWI variety cultivated is Johanniter, a cross between Pinot Grigio and Riesling. “Vin de la Neu” is fine, expressive, characterized by great clarity. In the 2019 version it has a bright and brilliant straw yellow. The nose opens with citrus tones, intertwined with floral hints and light nuances of exotic fruit. In the mouth it is fresh, accurate, vertical. A tense sip, made even richer by intriguing iodine reverberations. It closes showing great persistence, a further sign of the excellent level that PIWI varieties are able to reach today. “Vin de la Neu” certainly represents one of the highest peaks in the entire category, setting itself as a reference model and demonstrating to all producers who work with resistant varieties how high it is possible to go. In terms of altitude, but above all in terms of quality.

 

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Graziano Nani

Over 15 years in communication, today Graziano Nani is Branded Content Lead in Chora, where he deals with podcasts. AIS Sommelier, he writes for Intravino and curates @HellOfaWine on Instagram. He teaches wine communication at the Catholic University. He deals with the same topic in the podcast “La Retrolabel”, of which he is co-author, and with speeches at dedicated events.