Forastera

Forastera is a white Italian wine grape variety that is grown on the islands of Ischia and Procida off the coast of Naples in Campania. In the early 21st century, DNA analysis confirmed that the Spanish wine grape variety of the same name grown in the Canary Islands is a completely different and distinct variety with no close genetic relationship to the Italian Forastera.

History

Ampelographers believe that the name Forastera is derived from the Italian word forestiero which means "foreign" and could be an indication that the grape didn't originate on the Campanian islands. However, the first recorded mention of the grape was on the island of Ischia in the 1877 writings of winemaker Giuseppe Rovasenda, the Conti di Rovasenda whose ancestors served in the court of the Dukes of Savoy. Additional late 19th century writings from ampelographer Giuseppe Froio also described the grape growing in Ischia.

Rovasenda also noted back in 1877 that Forastera was also being cultivated in the province of Bergamo in Lombardy around the town of Grumello del Monte though the grape is no longer grown there today though this accounts hints that the "foreign" grape may have a northern Italian origin.

Forastera (Spanish grape)

Forastera is a white Spanish wine grape variety that is primarily grown in the Canary Islands. While it may have historically been used in sack production, now it is mostly a minor blending grape permitted in the Denominaciones de Origens (DOs) of the Canary Islands.

Relationship to other grapes

In the early 21st century, DNA analysis confirmed that the Forastera grape of the Canary Islands was a completely different and distinct variety with no close genetic relationship to the Italian Forastera grape growing on the islands of Ischia and Procida off the coast of Naples in Campania.

References

Forastera (disambiguation)

Forastera is the primary name or synonym of several wine and table grape varieties including: