Incrocio Manzoni

Manzoni 2.15 is a winter-hardy grape variety with good frost resistance that can be very vigorous unless kept in check by winter pruning, vine training and leaf-pulling.

[1] In 2000, there were 9,555 hectares (23,610 acres) of Manzoni bianco in Italy, mostly in the Friuli, Trentino, and Veneto regions, but plantings of grape have since spread southwards, so that it can now be found in Calabria, Molise and Apulia.

Producers in the Vigneti delle Dolomiti IGT of northeast Italy have also experimented with various varietal styles, including both spumante and frizzante sparkling wines made from late-harvest grapes.

Outside of Italy, Spanish winemakers in the Penedès region of Catalonia have started to plant the variety, making oak-aged varietal examples of the wine.

It is usually made as a dry wine but producers have been making more full-bodied off-dry styles in a manner similar to how German winemakers treat Riesling.

Varietal examples of Manzoni bianco tend to be rich and highly aromatic with notes of honey, jasmine, lime, orange-peel and verbena.

[4] Professor Manzoni's intent was to create a variety with the soft fruit flavors and consistent yields of Raboso Piave with the robustness and strong viticultural resistance of Muscat Hamburg.

[5] Professor Manzoni's original intent with the crossing was to create a grape variety that produced the reliable yields and viticultural resistance of Trebbiano with the aromatics and quality potential of Gewürztraminer.

The resulting cross, Manzoni rosa, is an early to mid-ripening grapevine that can be very fertile and high yielding with strong resistance to many fungal grape disease.