On autumn nights, silent fog descends and cloaks the vineyards. The morning wind blows it away, and the warm rays of the sun dry the frost from the grape clusters. In this magical alternation between darkness and light, Botrytis Cinerea, a fungus known as gray mold, creeps up on the berries, but does not damage them and in fact initiates a most natural process that will deliver an extraordinary wine to the palate. In the small region of Umbria, in central Italy, nestled between two lakes, Lake Corbara and Lake Bolsena, lies the area of Orvieto, one of the very rare areas in Italy to be dedicated to the production of sweet wines.
Botrytis Cinerea is a very common pest that spreads easily on fruits and vegetables. However, its attack is not always harmful. When ripe grapes are affected in a controlled manner, under very specific climatic conditions, real magic is created and Botrytis Cinerea becomes Molda Nobile. Wines such as the Sauternes of Bordeaux, the Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese from Austria and Germany, or the Tokaji Aszu in Hungary and the Muffati Orvietani in Umbria are all made from botrytis-affected grapes.
It seems that the origin of these wines is related to Hungarian Tokaji at the time of the Turkish invasion, which caused the abandonment of vineyards. Subsequent attempts to recover the crop by vinifying grapes attacked by Botrytis led to the discovery of noble mold. “The first tangible presence of Muffa Nobile in Umbria,” explain the Consorzio Tutela Vini di Orvieto, “is certified by Mr Giorgio Garavini, inspector general of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry: in 1931 he delimited the production area of Orvieto wine, pointing out that the abboccato type was the most appreciated and widespread. A wine “pale golden yellow in color, limpid, with a graceful bouquet much resembling that of fresh grapes, with an abundance of ethers, a suave sweet taste, with a slightly bitterish aftertaste as of almonds, sparkling due to the carbon dioxide produced by slow brewing,” for many comparable to French Sauternes, but without the typical sulfur taste.”
The production disciplinary of Orvieto, the unique in Italy, involves a Muffa Nobile type with the same varieties in the dry and amabile versions, namely Trebbiano Toscano (or Procanico, as it is called locally) and Grechetto for at least 60 percent. Other white grape varieties may compete up to a maximum of 40 percent.
“The Botrytis Cinerea and Orvieto’s territory nexus is also confirmed in the usual amabile version of this wine: a double harvest was carried out, leaving a small portion of grapes on the vine, in order to have a sugar reserve,” the Consortium continues. “In the “Golden Book of Italian Wines,” one of the very first catalogs of Italian wine, Cyril Ray recalls that withering rarely took place in the cellar, in the fruit cellar, and only for wineries that bought grapes and did not have their own vineyards. In all other cases, staying on the vine until a late harvest, in a naturally predisposed context, led to the appearance of Molda Nobile,” they go on to explain.
The realization that sweet wines can be created entirely from grapes attacked by this mold in Umbria came to life in the 1970s and was realized in 1981 with the first bottle, Decugnano dei Barbi’s Pourriture Noble. In recent years, production has become more established and there are many wineries offering these wines, with different styles and philosophies: some use only the traditional grapes, Grechetto and Trebbiano, and some use more suitable international ones, such as Sauvignon, Sémillon, Traminer and others.
Also dating back to the 1980s is the experience in the production of Muffa Nobile by Barberani, a family of winemakers since 1961, now run by the third generation of winemakers, Niccolò and Bernardo Barberani, joined by their parents Luigi and Giovanna, authors of two Muffa Nobile-based wines, the sweet version Calcaia, produced since 1986, nineteenth among the 100 wines of the world for Wine Enthusiast magazine, and the dry version “Luigi and Giovanna”, created in 2011, on the occasion of the winery’s 50th anniversary. “In the month of September begins this very particular autumn climate, which sees a strong and dense fog with great humidity during the night and then wind and sun during the day that make the mist thin out and dry everything out. This particular alternation causes Botrytis Cinerea to develop,” explains Niccolò Barberani, winemaker. Thanks to a particularly thick berry skin, the mold stays outside, enveloping the grapes, which turn from white-yellow to purple. Slowly spores form around the kernel and the mold, which seeks nourishment in times of sun and wind, makes microholes in the skin, sucks water from the berry, causing a concentration of sugars and acidity that will give the wines elegance and balance. Mold never consistently attacks plants.
Here it happens that in the same vineyard, or in the same cluster, some berries may be completely affected, others only partially, others not at all. The harvest thus becomes a dilated moment, conducted on several occasions, from mid-October, until even December 15-20, entirely by hand, berry by berry.
“We do not induce in any way the work of the mold that attacks the berries naturally. We only choose the right parts of the vineyards and try to select the vines that are best suited to this type of attack. It’s hard work, but very productive,” the winemaker says again, “which allows us to create two jewels, which although they are white wines have an extraordinary durability, an incredible evolution.” Once the harvest is done, the musts are very concentrated. The molds inside slow down the work of the yeasts, fermentation lasts up to a month, and is conducted at a controlled temperature.
Aging, for the sweet version, takes place in steel for one year and two in the bottle “because Muffa Nobile is shy,” he explains further, “and tends to come out in its own time and with the right patience. It has so much olfactory and gustatory richness that we let it express itself honestly, without containers that can manipulate it in any way.” It is a different matter for Luigi and Giovanna, with aging in large wooden barrels, where Grechetto is combined with a small percentage of botrytized grapes, making the tradition of Orvieto’s lands dialogue, with Muffa Nobile enhancing the elegance and aromaticity.