Colli di Scandiano e di Canossa DOC

The Reggio Emilia foothills between Scandiano and Canossa, and the home of a white grape that spent four centuries being mistaken for something else.

The Terroir The registered file is specific about why the ground works. The zone is a foothill and hill band of limited altitude, such as to guarantee levels of illumination and heat adequate for optimal ripening. The soils, tending to be calcareous and of fine texture, determine perfumed wines of high anthocyanin and polyphenol content, suited to whites and reds alike, characterised by good acidity and suited also to ageing, especially in the best exposures. That last clause is a small thing and a rare one: an Emilian file claiming its wines can be kept.

Spergola The denomination’s white is Spergola, and its story is the best in Emilia. For most of the modern era it was assumed to be Sauvignon Blanc — planted as Sauvignon, sold as Sauvignon, recorded as Sauvignon — and only in the 1990s did ampelographic work establish that it is a distinct native variety with no relationship to it at all. The name appears in local documents from the fifteenth century, and tradition has it served to Matilde di Canossa. It gives a sharp, green-apple, faintly saline white, still or frizzante, with the acidity to make good sparkling wine.

Grape Varieties Besides Spergola: Malvasia di Candia Aromatica, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc among the whites; Lambrusco Grasparossa, Marzemino, Malbo Gentile, Croatina, Ancellotta, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon among the reds. Still, frizzante, sparkling and passito versions are registered.

Canossa The castle above the zone is where Henry IV waited three days in the snow in January 1077 for Gregory VII to lift his excommunication — the origin of the phrase andare a Canossa, to make a humiliating submission. Matilde, who held the castle, is the most powerful woman in the Italian eleventh century and the reason the Spergola legend attaches here.

The Critical Take This is Lambrusco country making something other than Lambrusco, and the Spergola is the argument. Dry and still it is a good, sharp, unshowy white; made sparkling by the traditional method it is considerably better than that, and a handful of producers now do so. The reds are competent and overshadowed by Reggiano next door. The denomination is worth knowing for one grape.

At the Table Reggiano cooking: erbazzone, gnocco fritto, prosciutto and culatello, tortelli, and Parmigiano Reggiano. Serve the Spergola at 9–11°C.

Benchmark Producers Venturini Baldini, Casali Viticultori, Aljano.