Variability
This grapevine shows high phenotypic intra-variety variability.
The identity of Sangiovese toscano with the romagnolo one and with Brunello, Prugnolo and Morellino was noted by many scientists and technicians at the end of the XVIII century, and especially by Villifranchi (1773) and Acerbi (1875), who were among the first to discover the variety identity between Sangiovese and Prugnolo. Also the ampelographic commission of Siena (1877-83) confirmed without that Sangiovese, Brunello and Prugnolo are the same grapevine and suggested naming it ‘Sangioveto’. Successively Marzotto (1925), Cosmo (1948), Breviglieri e Casini (1965) confirmed that the changeability of Sangiovese is due to the presence of sub-populations that can be found above all from the dimensions of the berries or the characteristics of the leaves. Campostrini et al. (1995), studying 14 varietal population, dislocated in the traditional Tuscan cultivation zones, found the existence of 5 ecotypes distinguished by the productive and qualitative characteristics of the must, recognizable by the weight of the berries. Ampelographic differences among six biotypes of Sangiovese of different geographical origin (three in Tuscany, one in Romagna, one in Marche and one in Corsica, named as Nielluccio) were also noticed in a study carried out by Calò et al., (1995). Intra-variety variability was usefully used in cloning selection programs, which today allow the certification of about 90 clones. The multivariate statistical analysis, carried out on the basis of the morphological characteristics of the leaves of 12 certified clones, allowed to distinguish 3-4 groups of clones very well differentiated from the others (Silvestroni e Intrieri, 1995) emphasizing the possibility that practically not all the clones are distinguishable on the basis of philometric characteristics.
In recent times it has been proved that using molecular microsatellite markers it’s not possible to distinguish the biotypes of ‘Sangiovese grosso’, ‘Sangiovese piccolo’, ‘Prugnolo gentile’, ‘Morellino’, ‘Nielluccio’ and ‘Uvetta’ from different areas (Calò et al., 2001), while more caution has to be observed in the use of the name ‘Morellino’ if it is followed by suffixes ‘Pizzuto’, ‘di Pitigliano’,, ‘del Valdarno’, ‘del Casentino’, (Scalabrelli and Grasselli, 1985; Calò et al., 2004; Calò and Costacurta 2006).
Diffusion
From the election zones of cultivation, Tuscany and Romagna, Sangiovese progressively widens to others Italian regions such as Marche, Umbria, Abruzzo, Lazio, Puglia (Mainardi, 2001) and Corsica. The greatest part of this expansion happened between the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century together the post-phylloxera reconstruction. There was an extensive renewal of plantings in the 60’s-70’s, thanks to the incentives for the establishment of wide vineyards (Green plan). The production planning oriented towards quantity and not always a rational choice of the planting sites contributed to limit the achievement of this grapevine. The vineyards’ obsolescence needed their renewal which was made playing particular attention to the choice of soil, clonal material and planting system. The latter, in particular, was addressed to the increase of planting’s density and the rationalization of management techniques to achieve grapes of a quality suitable for the production of important red wines (Loreti and Scalabrelli, 2007).
Currently, Sangiovese is the most widespread grapevine in Italy, according to ISTAT in the year 2000 about 70000 hectares were cultivated taking up more than 10% of the whole vineyard’s area. The data of the Italian viticulture card index, besides being continuously in development, in 2004 assigned a surface of about 93000 hectares divided as follow:
Region
|
Area (ha)
|
%
|
Toscana
|
47.172,24
|
79,4
|
Puglia
|
16.204,49
|
10,1
|
Emilia Romagna
|
8.561,17
|
14,6
|
Marche
|
8.136,89
|
35,7
|
Umbria
|
3.902,87
|
26,6
|
Campania
|
3.794,90
|
12,9
|
Basilicata
|
1.461,10
|
12,4
|
Abruzzo
|
1.356,06
|
3,6
|
Lazio
|
1.324,83
|
3,1
|
Sardegna
|
393,13
|
0,9
|
Calabria
|
373,80
|
2,3
|
Molise
|
340,43
|
5,3
|
Liguria
|
136,94
|
5,2
|
Totale
|
93.158,85
|
|
Agronomic characteristics
It bud burst is quite early, in the last ten days of March in Tuscany coastal zones, while it is one week later in the inner zones. It requires quite high warmth to ripen fully (Turri and Intrieri, 1988) that finishes by the last ten days in September in the coastal zones while in Tuscany’s internal areas and in the highest zones it goes on until the first ten or twenty days of October. The adaptation of this grapevine in the coolest areas is essentially due to the amount of rainfall in the month before the harvest.
The high fertility of basal buds justifies the adoption of spur-pruning that can leave very shorts ‘spurs’ in the hottest areas (Montalcino, Maremma). The vigour is medium-high with a moderate ability of suckers’ issue. It is able to adapt to various training systems such as short pruning (alberello, spur pruned cordon, GDC), mixed pruning (Guyot, capovolto) and long pruning (tendone, archetto) on the basis of the climatic condition and the soil fertility. The use of rootstocks in new vineyards has expanded compared to the past. Where there isn’t any risk of extended drought, less vigorous subjects (161/49, 101-14) are employed with a high density plantation. The 110R is used where there is the need of a higher tolerance to drought while in more difficult conditions the 1103 P rootstock is predominantly used.
The bunch is of middle size, pyramid-shaped and on average compact. In ideal growing conditions the sugar content is high, while anthocyanin content in berry skin is highly dependent by place of cultivation, cultivation management, and in particular by vigour and production load. Different clones offer a wide variety of choice as regards the morphology and the qualitative characteristics of the bunch (Moretti 2007, Tamai 2009), allowing the production of polyclonal vineyards.
The sensitivity to Plasmopara viticola is average and it's mainly more sensitive to Oidium and to rot; it is quite sensitive to mites and less towards moths and leafhoppers, besides it is very susceptible to esca disease.
It is very adaptable to different environments even if the coastal zones may be subject to damage by late coming frost. Grapes of high quality are obtained in soil that is not very fertile, well drained and in a dry climate, with moderate lack of water from véraison till ripening. For a better aromatic complexity it is important to have a good temperature range. The terroir effect is well highlighted by the distinctive characteristics of the vines obtained from these different zones.