Oseleta

The name Oseleta is probably a diminutive of Oselina, a synonym built on the Italian word for birds, uccelli. Several unrelated varieties in northern Italy carry bird-derived names, usually because their berries attract birds. Useleta is a dialect spelling also recorded.

The parentage of Oseleta is not known. Genetic comparisons reported in secondary literature place it close to the other Valpolicella varieties, namely Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara, together with Dindarella and Pelara, which suggests a shared local gene pool in the Verona hills. A tradition that it was domesticated directly from wild vines in the Verona area has never been backed by evidence.

The variety declined through the phylloxera era and the twentieth century, when its stingy yields gave growers little reason to keep it. Surviving vines were found during the 1970s in a village in the hills north east of Verona. Masi then planted it in an experimental vineyard of dozens of local varieties and clones in the 1980s, and the vines behind its varietal wine Osar date from 1985 and 1990. Oseleta was officially authorised for the Valpolicella area in the early 2000s. Zymè planted it in 1998, and Tedeschi has included it in recent plantings. Estimates of the world area were about 15 ha around 2010; company figures from Masi in the mid 2010s put its own holding near 18 ha, so the real total is probably somewhat higher today.

Oseleta's yields are low and variable, which is the main reason it nearly vanished. Bunches are cylindrical and dense, sometimes winged, carrying small, almost black berries with large seeds. Budbreak is late, a useful protection against spring frost in the Verona hills. Ripening is mid to late season. Published accounts disagree on botrytis: some describe good resistance that permits late picking, while others note susceptibility in wet autumns, so site and canopy management matter. Its small berries and high skin-to-juice ratio favour concentrated, deeply pigmented must, and for that reason it is usually planted in small blocks as a blending component rather than as the backbone of a vineyard.

Most Oseleta is used in blends. In Valpolicella, Valpolicella Superiore, Ripasso, Amarone and Recioto it plays a supporting role, contributing colour, tannin and a spicy note of dark fruit. The Valpolicella rules class it as an accessory red grape, and any one accessory variety is limited to 10% of the blend. Masi is reported to include it at roughly 10% in some of its Amarone and Campofiorin blends. Wines made from the variety alone are rare. Masi's Osar spends 24 months in new small oak barrels and shows herbs, cinnamon, hedgerow fruit, floral lift and leather, with firm tannin that remains evident after several years. At La Cappuccina, Oseleta makes up 10% of Campo Buri, a wine built mainly on Carmenère, and half of Carmenos, a sweet passito whose other half is Carmenère.