🍇 Albana

Albana (VIVC prime name Albana Bianca) is a white wine grape of Italy. VIVC lists it as Vitis vinifera subsp. sativa with Italy as the country of origin, wine use and hermaphrodite flowers. The same passport records 76 synonyms, among them Albana di Romagna, Albana Gentile, Albana di Forlì, Greco, Riminese and Biancame. The variety is registered in the European Catalogue and kept in 16 collections.

A study of 36 SSR loci by Crespan and colleagues (Vitis, 2008) placed Albana among seven varieties closely related, in the first degree, to Garganega. Because the parents of Garganega are unknown, the direction of the relationship could not be determined.

The grape gives its name to Romagna Albana, a wine of Emilia-Romagna. The DOC rests on the decree of 21 July 1967; the current DOCG production rules were approved by ministerial decree of 22 September 2011 (Gazzetta Ufficiale no. 235 of 8 October 2011). They provide five types: secco (dry), amabile, dolce, passito and passito riserva. Passito and passito riserva are made from grapes that may be withered until 30 March of the year after the harvest. The DOC Romagna also includes Albana spumante, for which the rules require at least 95% Albana, with up to 5% of other white varieties suited to Emilia-Romagna.