bonarda

[Botafogo]

Carl, I may have to come up there to your "insignificant" state and take you to the woodshed personally!

Bonarda is the PRINCIPLE grape of large swaths of Lombardia including the Oltrepò Pavese and Buttafuoco zonas, a lot of Emilia-Romagna as well as having large plantings in Argentina.

DOCs include:

Colline Torinesi Bonarda (Piemonte)
Colline Novarese Bonarda (Piemonte)
Costa della Sesia Bonarda (Piemonte)
Buttafuoco Rosso (Lombardia)
Oltrepò Pavese Bonarda (Lombardia)
Colli Piacentini Bonarda (Emilia Romagna)

IGTs include all manner of sweet, dry, fizzy and vivace versions from all three regions.

It is a deep, dark and smoky varietal that is made in many wonderful styles ranging from slightly sweet and fizzy to so dark it will permanently stain your teeth.

We have more Bonarda than Sangiovese here in our Italo-centric store and great producers include Fratelli Agnes (who make nothing else and have been in business for 900 years), Martilde, Pellegrini, Picchioni, Verdi, Torti and many more.

Roberto


[This message has been edited by Botafogo (edited 05-16-2005).]