My first ever Quagliano
Posted on 4 January 2009
You are most likely familiar with Moscato d’Asti, that delightful frothy sweet 5%-alcohol speciality from Piedmont, probably the fruitiest and most refreshing ‘wine’ in the world. And you might even have heard about or tasted Brachetto, which is Moscato’s (far less widespread) red lookalike.
But Piedmont somehow specialises in such quirky wines. There is also the rare Malvasia di Castelnuovo Don Bosco and Malvasia di Casorzo d’Asti, both similar to Brachetto, as well as Freisa di Chieri, which is a little more ‘serious’ – deeper in colour and fizzy but often dry (or semi-dry).
Today I am drinking the rarest of all – Quagliano. This grape is only grown in an area north of the city of Cuneo, in a small DOC called Colline Saluzzesi, which wine-wise is in the middle of absolute nowhere. Quagliano, which is documented since the 17th century, is in the serious danger of extinction: there are only around 10 hectares left. The Colline Saluzzesi itself apparently is only 3.90 ha, and Quagliano needs to share these with another indigenous rarity, Pelaverga.
On a recent trip to Italy, I visited the Enoteca Regionale located at the imposing castle of Grinzane Cavour close to Alba. If you’re hunting after some barrique-aged Barbaresco you will find little of interest there, but it is a fantastic source of lesser-known Piedmontese wines. I ended up with bottles of Nascetta, Erbaluce, Ruché and Arneis, paying less than 50 € for 6 bottles. And then I grabbed this bottle of Quagliano – my first ever taste of this grape (and the first time I saw a bottle of it on sale).
Made by Ambrogio Chiotti (see their website here; interestingly, apart from bottled wines they also sell a 10-12% red in huge glass demi-johns; there is also a small museum dedicated to Quagliano), this wine packs in a bit more substance than Brachetto. It has a deeper purple colour, and shows a different aromatic register: bitter cherries instead of Brachetto’s raspberries and strawberries. Sweetness is moderate, and there is quite some cherry kick on the finish with a bit of tannins and good acidity. Not too frothy (juding from the bottling code I think this is a 2006, which would explain), but fresh as a springtime tulip. 7% alcohol and a lot of enjoyment. Let’s hope Quagliano can endure.
© S.