🍇 Pignoletto

Pignoletto is a white wine grape from Emilia-Romagna and the leading variety of the hills and plains around Bologna. It makes dry still wines, but most often light semi-sparkling (frizzante) and sparkling ones. In the international VIVC grape catalogue, “Pignoletto” is the prime name, and its 27 synonyms include Grechetto Gentile, Grechetto di Todi and Rebola.

Winegrowing here goes back a long way: the specification of the PDO “Emilia-Romagna” even mentions Roman veterans in the Bologna area who made a semi-sparkling “pale” wine. Today the variety's name appears in two protected designations: DOCG “Colli Bolognesi Pignoletto”, which has held DOCG status since 2010, and the youngest DOC, “Emilia-Romagna”, registered by the EU in December 2023 for the provinces of Bologna, Modena and Ravenna.

According to the specification, still Pignoletto is straw yellow, sometimes with greenish glints, with aromas of white flowers, hawthorn or jasmine. On the palate it ranges from dry to off-dry, with notes of pear and apple and sometimes a slight bitterness. Minimum total alcohol is 10.5% vol., and acidity at least 4 g/l.

Frizzante and spumante are usually made by the Charmat method in sealed tanks, but second fermentation in the bottle is also allowed; such frizzante is labelled “rifermentazione in bottiglia” and may be slightly cloudy from the lees. There are also sweet passito wines from partially dried grapes with a natural alcohol of at least 15% vol., as well as late-harvest wines. Yields are up to 147 hl/ha for the main wines and up to 45 for passito.

Why it matters to you. Look for the designation on the label, “Colli Bolognesi Pignoletto” or “Emilia-Romagna” Pignoletto: it guarantees the zone and the production rules. Frizzante means light bubbles, spumante full sparkle, from brut nature to dry. And a slight haze in a bottle marked “rifermentazione in bottiglia” is not a fault but sediment from fermentation.