Grape Guide
Vespolina
RedVespolina is a minor black grape of northern Piedmont and the Oltrepò Pavese, a descendant of Nebbiolo that has long served as a spicy, aromatic partner in the blends of Gattinara, Ghemme, Boca and their neighbours. Plantings are small and shrinking, yet a handful of growers now bottle it alone as a spicy, fruity, tannic red.
Key Characteristics
- Black-skinned; DNA analysis shows Nebbiolo as one parent
- Ripens mid to early season, ahead of Nebbiolo
- Low yields, with a tendency to millerandage and early berry shrivelling
- Susceptible to bunch rot, downy mildew and drought stress
- Mostly a blending grape; a varietal bottling under the Colline Novaresi or Coste della Sesia denomination must contain at least 85% Vespolina
Typical Flavors
Major Regions
Colline Novaresi DOC (Piedmont) · Coste della Sesia DOC (Piedmont) · Ghemme DOCG (Piedmont) · Gattinara DOCG (Piedmont) · Boca DOC (Piedmont) · Oltrepò Pavese (Lombardy)
Also Known As
Ughetta (Oltrepò Pavese) · Uvetta di Canneto (Oltrepò Pavese) · Ughetta di Canneto (Oltrepò Pavese) · Vespolino
Overview
Vespolina is a black-skinned grape of Alto Piemonte, the cluster of small hillside appellations spread over Biella, Novara and Vercelli provinces, where Nebbiolo is known as Spanna. It seldom appears on a label by itself. Across most of the zone it plays a supporting role in blends built on Nebbiolo, giving a spicy lift and extra aromatic fruit to a grape that is firmer and more austere. Bottled alone, it gives a spicy, fruity and tannic red, made by only a few producers in the Oltrepò Pavese and in the Coste della Sesia and Colline Novaresi DOCs. Plantings are tiny, roughly a hundred hectares across Italy at the last detailed counts, so the variety is better known to growers than to drinkers. Low yields and a vulnerability to early berry shrivelling, rot and mildew explain why more reliable grapes, Barbera above all, took its place after phylloxera.
Origins & History
Records place Vespolina in northern Piedmont, chiefly the Gattinara area, and in the Lombard Oltrepò Pavese from at least the late eighteenth century onward. At one time it was widespread across the Piedmont provinces of Vercelli, Novara and Biella, and also turned up around Piacenza (Emilia-Romagna) and in the Lombard provinces of Pavia and Como. Oltrepò Pavese growers call it Ughetta or Uvetta di Canneto. Its name is commonly tied to vespa, the Italian word for wasp, on the notion that insects swarm to the sweet, thin-skinned berries, though the origin of the name has not been firmly settled. Microsatellite DNA work in the early 2000s identified Vespolina as a child of Nebbiolo. A far larger SNP-based survey of north-western Italian cultivars, published in 2020, upheld Nebbiolo as one parent and suggested Coccalona nera, a rare old Piedmontese variety, as the other. This makes Vespolina a half-sibling of Bubbierasco, which likewise has Nebbiolo as a parent, and of Durasa and the Moscato Nero types, which share Coccalona nera as a parent. Following phylloxera, growers turned to the more productive and hardier Barbera, and grafting onto American rootstocks is reported to have disturbed how Vespolina ripens. By 2000 its area had fallen to under half of the 1970 figure, and today the variety lives on mainly as a minor component in blends.
Viticultural Characteristics
Vespolina ripens mid to early season, ahead of Nebbiolo. Yields are low, and the variety is prone to millerandage (poor, uneven berry set), to bunch rot, and to berries that shrivel too soon. It is also vulnerable to downy mildew and to drought in dry summers. Grafting onto American rootstocks after phylloxera altered its ripening, and the combination of small, irregular crops and the greater productivity and resistance of Barbera pushed most growers away from it. In the vineyard it needs sites that buffer it against water stress. It is still planted on the hills of the Biella, Novara and Vercelli provinces that also carry Nebbiolo, as well as on the Oltrepò Pavese slopes.
Wine Styles & Characteristics
Most Vespolina ends up in red blends, where its spice and aromatic fruit are used to lift Nebbiolo, whether in the long-aged DOCG wines of Gattinara and Ghemme or in the reds of Boca, Fara, Sizzano and Bramaterra. In the Oltrepò Pavese the grape is called Ughetta, and there it joins Barbera, Croatina and Uva Rara in local red blends, adding a characteristic spicy note. Varietal bottlings are permitted in the Coste della Sesia and Colline Novaresi DOCs and remain a small specialty. They tend to be spicy, fruity and notably tannic, with the structure of a Nebbiolo relative rather than the softness of Barbera. The grape is therefore best understood as a blending partner first and a varietal red second.