Spergola

Spergola is an Emilian white from the hills around Scandiano that spent years being confused with Sauvignon Blanc, a mistake D’Agata finds hard to account for since the two look nothing alike and ripen at different times. Genetic work in 2001 settled it. The grape has a documented history stretching back to the eleventh century and a following that is growing again.

Origins and history Matilde di Canossa is said to have given a bottle of Spergola wine to Pope Gregory VII, and Bianca Cappello, Grand Duchess of Tuscany in the fifteenth century, was reportedly a fan. The first precise account of the variety’s characteristics and behaviour came from Tanara in 1644, who called it Pomoria or Pellegrina. It was also known as Spergolina or Spargolina.

A name that no longer fits Spargolina derives from the Italian spargolo, meaning loose or sparse, and implies a loosely packed bunch. Curiously, that is not what modern Spergola vines show. Gallesio described two biotypes in the nineteenth century, Spargolina Normale with larger berries and bunches and Spargolina Molle with very small, loosely packed ones, so the name may have attached to the second of these and survived the disappearance of the first.

Relations The 2001 study that freed Spergola from Sauvignon Blanc also documented its basic phenotypic and phenological characteristics and suggested genetic ties to Pignoletto. That places it in the broad Grechetto Gentile orbit rather than anywhere near the French varieties it was mistaken for, which fits the wine rather better than the old assumption ever did.

In the vineyard Spergola is grown around Scandiano and Albinea near Reggio Emilia, and is rarer than most Emilian varieties though less rare than people assume. Around two hundred hectares are planted in Emilia-Romagna and recent estimates show plantings increasing. It carries naturally high acidity, which is the foundation of every style made from it.

Appearance and structure The wine is pale straw-green with a fresh, light, high-acid palate that D’Agata compares to apple cider, which catches both its bite and its faintly rustic charm. It is not a weighty white and makes no attempt to be. The acidity is emphatic enough that the sparkling and sweet versions both make obvious sense.

Aromatic profile Bright white flowers lead, acacia, white buttercup and jasmine, over riper citrus and both green and yellow apple. The floral register is the wine’s signature and distinguishes it clearly from the neighbouring Emilian whites. There is nothing of the herbaceous character that the old Sauvignon Blanc confusion would imply.

In the cellar The wines are often, though not always, bottled as Colli di Scandiano e Canossa. Still, sparkling and sweet air-dried versions are all made, the high acidity supporting each. Five estates around Scandiano have joined forces as La Compagnia della Spergola to promote the variety, which is the sort of collective effort that tends to decide whether a rare grape survives.

Key expressions

• Colli di Scandiano e Canossa DOC, the variety’s usual home.
• Sparkling versions, where the natural acidity does the work.
• Air-dried sweet wines, a traditional local style.
• Bottlings from the five estates of La Compagnia della Spergola.

The question of aging Spergola is at its best young, within two years, while the floral aromatics and apple bite are sharp. The acidity would preserve it longer but the perfume that makes it worth drinking does not survive the wait. The sweet versions are the exception and will hold well for years.

At the table The acidity and light body handle Emilian salumi, particularly the cured pork of the Reggio hills, along with parmigiano, fried dough and freshwater fish. The sparkling version is the natural aperitivo. Serve it cold, around eight degrees.

Why it matters Spergola is a grape with a papal anecdote, a duchess and four centuries of documentation that was nonetheless filed under Sauvignon Blanc until 2001. Its recovery is recent, its plantings are rising and its growers have organised to defend it. That combination is rarer than it should be, and it is why this one looks likely to make it.