Fogarina

The Fogarina grape undoubtedly owes its fame to the refrain of a popular song, “Oh how beautiful the fogarina grape is, oh how beautiful it is to know how to harvest it.” This black variety was important for the grape production in the Emilian region during the first half of the twentieth century, when it was the second most cultivated variety in the province of Reggio Emilia, after Ancellotta. In recent decades its cultivation was gradually abandoned and replaced by Fortana and Lambrusco Maestri. It is also called Fogarina di Gualtieri, after the municipality that is its main distribution center although its origins remain uncertain. Some argue that it was found in a forest near Guastalla called Fogarin, probably arrived with the flood of the river Po. Others believe that the Fogarin name derived from the capability of giving fire to other inferior grapes, which alone would give spotty wines. Fogarina’s berry is black, medium and round with thick and leathery, black blue skin. The bunch is medium, pyramidal, and loose. The Fogarina vine gives a purplish red colored wine with fruity scent. The taste is very faint, dry, soft, more or less sweet, sparkling with red and abundant foam.