Lacrima

The Lacrima grape variety is also known by the name of the wine that is used from, the Lacrima di Morro d'Alba.

A native grape from Marche, it has ancient origins, there are evidences that in 1167 Frederick Barbarossa drunk a wine made from this grape when he stayed in the castle of Morro d'Alba during the siege of Ancona and the origins of the name seem to derive from the fact that the berries, when ripe, ooze juice droplets that appear as tears (lacrima means tear in Italian) and over the centuries its presence has shrunk more and more to become a variety exclusively grown in the area of Morro d'Alba.

In the last couple of decades, there has been a rediscovery of the Lacrima grape and it is being replanted, and with limited extensions, it is also grown in Romagna, Tuscany and Puglia. The Lacrima grape has a black berry, medium, spherical with thick and consistent, blue-black colored skin. The cluster is medium, pyramidal, winged and straggly with a medium, pentagonal, five-lobed leaf.

The Lacrima grape prefers a temperate climate since it is not very resistant to bad weather and sensible to botrytis. The Lacrima of Morro d'Alba produces intense ruby red wines with purple hues. The nose is aromatic, distinctive with notes of violets, with aging the olfactory notes evolve to strawberry, cherry, blackberries, blueberries. Lacrima di Morro d’Alba is medium bodied and on the palate is dry, with smooth tannins.