L'Aleatico dai mille profumi

In this book are offered a series of historical, morphological, molecular and techni- cal information up to date on ‘Aleatico’ grapevine and wines. The ‘Aleatico’ grape- vine is a red variety largely cultivated along the coastline of Tuscany and particu- larly on Elba Island (a Tuscany island) for the production the characteristic dessert wine ‘Aleatico Passito dell’Elba’, by a partial post-harvest berry dehydration. This wine on 2011 received the ‘Denomination of Controlled and Guaranteed Origin’ (DOCG), named ‘Protected Designation of Origin’ (PDO) according to the present eu- ropean legislation. This variety, cultivated also in other Italian regions and in small areas of other countries, although is famous for the production of dessert red wine, recently it was utilized to produce white, rosè and red dry wines with interesting sensorial features. Molecular marker studies suggested that ‘Aleatico’ has a parental relationship with muscat grapevine, moreover a lot of synonyms have been found, which are criti- cally discussed, while it has not genetic relationship with the grapevine ‘Liatiko of Creta’. We suppose that it is a ‘proles pontica’ variety with a possible strong rela- tionship with the Transcaucasia cultivated grapevine center of origin. Information concerning morphological traits, sites and techniques of cultivation, and vinification techniques are also reported for the areas of production in Italy and particularly for Tuscan Coastal area and Elba island. Results of experimental researches carried out in this territory, regarding clonal selection, irrigation strat- egies, aromatic compositions and wine sensorial analysis are also reported. ‘Ale- atico’ vines resulted tolerant to water stress so as it is cultivated in poor soils and in conditions of scarce water available during summer. ‘Passito’ wines are the most usual Aleatico wine type, whose production at Elba isle is made as a sweet fresh version (most common) or as aged in barrel. It has been pointed out that the pres- ence in the market of both wine types will give the opportunity to satisfy a larger number of consumers. The sensorial analysis performed on 53 wines (mainly ‘pas- sito’ wines) of different origin and years carried out by a specific parametric sheet allowed to make a detailed picture of the wines profiles. Even in the white, rose and red dry wines it was possible to recognize the main sensorial traits of ‘Ale- atico’, which are expressed by flowers and fruits notes due to the characteristic terpene aroma compounds. The amount of sugar residue in ’passito’ wine ranged from 16 g/L to around 200 g/L, enhancing the possibility of pairing these wines with different foods (chocolate, cakes, cheese and other foods). A series of culinary recipes with ‘Aleatico’ grapes and wines, and pairing are also presented. Market opportunity for ‘Aleatico’ wines are discussed on the base of a survey carried out on producers and consumers from several areas of production