Catalanesca del Monte Somma

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• The grape variety is grown exclusively in Campania, on the north-western slopes of Monte Somma, in the communes surrounding the Somma-Vesuvio volcanic complex.
• The volcanic complex has an almost truncated-cone shape, with nearly vertical inner slopes and fairly steep outer slopes displaying a markedly concave profile.
• The slopes of Somma, being older, feature a dense and articulated drainage network, with drainage lines that have been beheaded as a result of truncation caused by caldera formation.
• The torrent incisions form narrow, steep, and deep valleys known locally as valloni or cupe, within an altitudinal band between 200 and 300 metres where the soils transition from strongly sloping to nearly flat.
• In the higher altitudinal band, man-made terracing and bench terracing are common.

• The variety, known as Catalanesca, Catalana, or Uva Catalana, is said to have been present in the Vesuvian area since the sixteenth century.
• Froio (1878) cites Catalanesca among the grape varieties cultivated in the province and recommends the best approach to vinifying it.
• Semmola (1848) describes a grape that ripens in the second part of October yet keeps well on the vine for an extended period, yielding a wine modest in quantity but generoso and aromatic in character.

• The wine produced from Catalanesca is a dry white with good gustatory balance, derived from the grape's high sugar accumulation combined with its total acidity and pH at harvest.
• On the nose, the wine shows fruity notes with characteristic aromas of dried apricot and honey, which by the second year of ageing evolve into dominant mineral notes.

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.

All appellations in Italy

Sources

• eAmbrosia register (EU) — File number PGI-IT-A0254
• Official trade body site — Consorzio Tutela Vini Vesuvio