Calif's New Agoston Haraszthy..

Calif’s new Agoston Haraszthy…that could only be Bryan Harrington.
Bryan has a grant from FPS to bring back plant material from Europe for FPS to clean up and eventually
distribute. I’m sure there’s a big eye-roll when he shows up on the front step, more plant material in hand.
As many of you know, Bryan has sorta gone round-the-bend in his interest in obscure varietals. And I,
of course, buy every one he puts out. I can be such an enabler!!

On his last trip a month ago, he escaped with:
SPAIN:
Mando
Trepat
Morenillo
Sumoll
Hondarribi Zuri
Hondarribi Beltza

ITALY:
Glera
Nero di Troia
Susumaniello
Famoso
Cesanese
Uva Longanesi (Burson)
Albana
Bombino Bianco
Centesimino

Some very interesting things. And some I’ve never heard of.
I’m especially excited about the Glera. This is the grape of Prosecco. The folks in the Valdobiaddene stole the grape from the
folks in the town of Prosecco in the Carso. And then got the EU to protect the name “Prosecco” as a sparkling wine coming only
from their region. So now, the good folks from the tiny village of Prosecco can no longer make their Sparkling Prosecco. Friggin’ thieves.
Goliath does in David once again.
It would be neat if Bryan starts making a Sparkling Glera, and then labels it as Prosecco. Man…would the folks in the Valdobiaddene get
on their high horse and start frothing at the mouth. Serve 'em right.
When Bryan was in the Valtelline (first visit for him) he got wind of a Nebbiolo Bianco grape variety that is currently being propagated there.
I’ve connected him to the folks at Balgera who discovered it and, hopefully, it will come over on next yr’s trip and eventually Calif will makes
the World’s greatest Nebbiolo Bianco…like they already do with Nebbiolo!!

Now all Bryan needs to do is get the Calif State Legislature to pay for his vacations to Europe like Agoston did.
Tom

Sounds really interesting and thanks for name checking good ol’ Agoston. One question: what is FPS? Foreign Plant Society?

Foundation Plant Services, UC Davis. http://fps.ucdavis.edu/

Whew! Thought it might be some sort of weird response to the CNPS.

Bryan reports:

Tom

Interesting. Prieto Picudo was almost extinct until a few enterprising folks in Spain figured out how to trellis it properly. Most of it is pretty bad but the few good ones are somewhat citrusy and even floral sometimes.

Bryan is a one-man phenomenon. Doing great stuff.

And did Bryan tell you that he convinced me to put together the petitions to the TTB to approve these new varieties for use on wine labels? He wanted no part of that!

Despite having to write up this stuff to meet the specific criteria for government approval, it’s actually been sort of fun - certainly learning more about the grape varieties as I’ve been working on them. Schiava (actually Schiava Grossa, which is the varietal name - there are other unrelated Schiava varieties) has been approved and it seems like Prieto Picudo will be approved before too long.

Can we make a wishlist?

I’d love to get some Savagnin: gros, vert, and jaune.

In past visits, Bryan has made appointments to bring back cuttings from the Jura to go through the FPS system, but it’s my understanding that the growers he met with backed out and would not cooperate. He’s had much better success with people in Italy and Spain than in France.

Savagnin Blanc is available through FPS and Palmina has made a Traminer (Savagnin) from Alisos Vineyard. Not sure I’ve seen anyone else make it in California.
Savagnin Blanc listing from FPS

Savagnin Vert, Savagnin Gros Vert, and Savagnin Jaune are color mutations of Savagnin Blanc, correct?

Wow. I tried searching FPS a while back… Maybe I misspelled it. I font recall anyone ever mentioning Savagnin Blanc in Jura. I’ll have to do some more research into it. I’ll be there in June for a bit.

What producers there say about varieties and mutations vs what things actually are often don’t line up, but my understanding is there is more than just skin volor differences. They ripen and hold acid differently. I came across some pink skinned mutations when I was there last that were more aromatic. It seems it is a variety prone to mutation, so combining that with a lot of massale selection makes it hard to really keep track of stuff.

Here’s a vote for California Cesanese!

Bryan brought it back this year, so maybe we’ll be able to make some in a few years!