Schierano Malvasia and Casorzo Malvasia are two aromatic red grapes belonging to the Malvasia, a family that includes many varieties, some of which greatly differ in plant morphology, colour and flavour. The family owes its name to the Port of Monembasia in Greece, the starting point for the importation of a number of very similar varieties capable of giving full-bodied wines, often sweet and very popular in the Middle Ages. The Venetians at the beginning of the fifteenth century were responsible for importing it and subsequently encouraged the spread of Malvasia wines that between the 1500s and 1700s was among the most important in Europe. By the 1600s, the production of these wines began to spread pretty much all over Italy, and led local producers to mention geographical indications of origin. Among the different varieties it in Piedmont, Schierano Malvasia has spread the most: mainly cultivated in an area between the province of Turin and the province of Asti, along with Freisa grapes, it is used to produce Castelnuovo Don Bosco Malvasia Doc. From the Casorzo Malvasia vines, cultivated in the namesake town and the immediate surroundings, you get the Casorzo Malvasia Doc.
MALVASIA GRAPE:
Berry colour: black.Productivity: abundant.
Leaf: five-lobed or trefoil (Schierano Malvasia).
Bunch: pyramidal-cylindrical, winged (Casorzo Malvasia), with oval berries of blue-blackish colour.
Ripening: mid October.
Wines: Malvasia di Casorzo d’Asti Doc, Malvasia di Castelnuovo Don Bosco Doc.
