Verdea (grape)

[1] Verdea is a mid-ripening grape variety that is often allowed to hang on the vine late into the growing season when its concentrated sugars are desired for the production of dessert wines.

[1] In 2000, there were 152 hectares (380 acres) of Verdea growing in Italy, the vast majority of it in the Lombardy region around the village of San Colombano al Lambro in the province of Milan.

[1] Up until the mid-20th century, Verdea was widely grown in the Trebbia valley between the cities of Genoa in Liguria and Piacenza in Emilia-Romagna where it was often blended with Malvasia bianca, Besgano bianco and Pizzutello in the production of Vin Santo.

[1] Today the grape is a permitted blending variety in several Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) and Indicazione geografica tipica (IGT) zones including the Colline del Milanese in Lombardy.

While often used as a blending variety (including with Riesling by at least one Italian producer in Lombardy), the grape can be made a varietal in both a sweet and dry style.