🍇 Grechetto

Grechetto is a white wine grape from central Italy, best known in Umbria and Lazio. In the VIVC catalogue its prime name is Grechetto Bianco, and «Grechetto» is one of 24 synonyms, alongside Grechetto di Orvieto, Greco and Strozzavolpe. Italy's national register of grape varieties lists it as Grechetto B. under code 095.

The name is easy to mix up. Another variety, Pignoletto, goes by a similar name: its VIVC synonyms include Grechetto Gentile and Grechetto di Todi, and the Italian register allows DO and IGT wines from the provinces of Perugia, Terni and Viterbo to show «Grechetto» instead of «Pignoletto» on the label. So «Grechetto» on a bottle from Umbria can mean either of the two varieties.

According to VIVC, Grechetto covered 1 204 ha in Italy in 2000. Samples of the variety are held in 10 collections; the catalogue gives no parents, and the variety is listed in the European catalogue of varieties.

Grechetto turns up most often in Umbrian DOCs. «Colli Martani» Grechetto, for example, must contain at least 85% Grechetto, its yield is capped at 10 t/ha, and wine from vineyards in the commune of Todi may carry the «Todi» designation. In «Colli Martani» spumante, Grechetto, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir together make up at least half of the grapes.

Why it matters to you. If a variety is named on the label of an EU wine, it accounts for at least 85% of it. With Grechetto, though, check the origin as well: in Umbria and the province of Viterbo the name may stand for Pignoletto. VIVC also lists other synonyms, such as Greca del Piemonte or Grecherello, so the same variety turns up under different names.