Grape Guide
Croatina
RedCroatina is a deeply coloured red grape of northern Italy, centred on the hills of Oltrepò Pavese and Piacenza. It is bottled alone as Bonarda, usually dry or off-dry and often lightly sparkling, and it supplies colour and structure to blends with Barbera and, in northern Piedmont, Nebbiolo.
Key Characteristics
- Mid to late ripening, needing a long season
- Notably resistant to powdery mildew
- Sensitive to prolonged summer drought
- Unrelated to Hrvatica despite the shared name, as DNA profiling shows
- Pollen parent of Ervi, a 1970 cross with Barbera made at Piacenza
Typical Flavors
Major Regions
Oltrepò Pavese · Colli Piacentini (Gutturnio) · Colli Tortonesi · Colline Novaresi · Coste della Sesia · Bramaterra · San Colombano al Lambro · Cisterna d'Asti
Also Known As
Bonarda (Oltrepò Pavese · Piacenza · Roero) · Bonarda di Rovescala · Crovattina · Nebbiolo di Gattinara · Neretto · Spanna-Nebbiolo (Novara · Vercelli) · Uga del Zio · Uva Vermiglia
Overview
Croatina is a black-skinned variety of the Po plain and its southern hills. Its heartland is the Oltrepò Pavese in Lombardy and the province of Piacenza in Emilia-Romagna, with outposts in the Tortona hills, the Novara and Vercelli hills of Piedmont, and the Veneto. Across much of this area it is simply called Bonarda, a name shared with several unrelated vines, so the label and the grower's local usage matter. The wines are dark, fruity and direct, with moderate tannin and a slightly bitter edge that keeps them fresh alongside fatty local salumi. Much of the crop is made into young, frothy Bonarda for local drinking, but the grape also anchors serious blends such as Buttafuoco and Gutturnio, and a handful of growers bottle old-vine Croatina that ages for a decade or more. Plantings in Italy were about 3,280 ha around 2000 and some 5,700 to 6,100 ha by the 2010 agricultural census, depending on the tally.
Origins & History
Croatina is thought to come from Rovescala, in the Versa valley of the Oltrepò Pavese, where it was first recorded in the later nineteenth century. Its own parentage does not appear to have been published. The name means Croatian girl, as does that of the old Croatian variety Hrvatica, but DNA profiling has ruled out any kinship between the two, so the shared name is a coincidence of folk naming. Bonarda is the main source of confusion. In the Oltrepò Pavese and parts of Piacenza, Asti and Roero, Bonarda means Croatina, yet the word is attached to at least six genetically distinct varieties across Italy, including the unrelated Bonarda Piemontese. The Bonarda of Argentina is a further case: it is Douce Noire, a Savoie variety, and not Croatina at all. Croatina has been used in breeding and has also fathered natural crosses. In 1970 Mario Fregoni, working at the Catholic University campus in Piacenza, crossed Barbera (seed parent) with Croatina (pollen parent) to produce Ervi, a selection intended to improve on the agronomic traits of both parents. DNA work published in 2020 indicates that Bonardina, a rare northern Italian vine, is a probable chance cross of Malvasia Aromatica di Parma with Croatina. The variety has moved little outside northern Italy, and it remains a minor component of some Veneto Amarone, where it can form part of the small share of the blend allowed to varieties other than Corvina, Corvinone and Rondinella.
Viticultural Characteristics
Croatina is a mid- to late-ripening vine that needs a long season to reach full ripeness, which suits the warm, sheltered slopes of the Oltrepò and the Piacentino. It is notably resistant to powdery mildew, an advantage in humid valley sites, but it copes poorly with prolonged summer drought, so very free-draining or shallow soils can stall ripening. In the Novara hills some growers keep ancient mixed plantings trained on the maggiorina system, the traditional local trellis, and these vineyards are valued for concentration rather than yield. The grape gives deeply coloured wines readily, so many producers keep maceration short for the young, frothy style and extend it only for wines meant to age.
Wine Styles & Characteristics
The commonest expression is Bonarda dell'Oltrepò Pavese, a DOC requiring at least 85 percent Croatina with Barbera, Uva Rara or Vespolina (called Ughetta locally) making up the rest. It appears dry or off-dry, still, vivace or frizzante, and is best drunk within a couple of years. Gutturnio from the Piacenza hills blends 55 to 70 percent Barbera with 30 to 45 percent Croatina, giving a firm, savoury red that can be still or lightly sparkling. Buttafuoco from the Oltrepò Pavese requires at least 25 percent each of Croatina and Barbera, with Uva Rara and Ughetta completing the blend. The sweet Sangue di Giuda allows 25 to 65 percent Croatina alongside Barbera. In northern Piedmont Croatina is a minor partner to Nebbiolo in Bramaterra and Colline Novaresi, and varietal Croatina is made under several local DOCs.