Valentino nero

Valentino nero is a red Italian wine grape variety that is grown in the Piedmont wine region of northwest Italy but was initially bred at the Conegliano research center in the Veneto.

In 1936, its creator, Giovanni Dalmasso, stated that the grape was a crossing of two Vitis vinifera Piedmontese varieties, Nebbiolo and Dolcetto, but DNA profiling in 2009 showed that the French wine grape Chatus and Dolcetto were the parent vines.

[1] Valentino nero was created by the Italian grape breeder Giovanni Dalmasso at the Conegliano research center in the Veneto region in 1936.

The grape was officially approved for the use in Italian wine production in 1977.

While Dolcetto was still confirmed to be one of the parent varieties, Valentino nero's parentage of Chatus x Dolcetto makes it a full sibling to the Veneto wine grape Passau and San Martino.

Dolcetto, one of the parent vines of Valentino nero
The Ardèche region in France where Valentino nero's other parent variety, Chatus, originated