Lagrein

{{Short description|Variety of grape}}

{{redirect|Lagarino|the white wine grape|Lagarino bianco}}

{{More citations needed|date=November 2023}}

{{Infobox grape variety

| name = Lagrein

| color = Rouge

| color_alt = Red

| image = Lagrein grape clusters at Gisborne Peak.jpg

| caption = Lagrein grapes in Gisborne South, Australia.

| also_called = Lagarino

| regions = Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol

| wines = Lagrein Scuro, Lagrein Dunkel, Lagrein Rosato, Lagrein Kretzer

| soil =

| hazards =

| wine_general =

| wine_cool =

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| vivc_number = 6666

}}

Lagrein ({{IPA|de|laˈɡʁaɪn|pron}}){{cite web| url= https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/30/dining/reviews/30wine.html | title= Unfamiliar, but Worth Getting to Know | author= Eric Asimov | date= March 28, 2011| work=The New York Times| accessdate=2011-04-15| author-link= Eric Asimov }} is a red wine grape variety native to the valleys of South Tyrol, northern Italy. Along with Marzemino, it is a descendant of Teroldego, and related to Syrah, Pinot noir and Dureza.{{cite journal|last=Vouillamoz, J. F. ; Grando, M. S. |first= Heredity |title= Genealogy of wine grape cultivars: Pinot is related to Syrah |journal= Heredity |date= May 24, 2006 |volume= 97 |issue= 2 |pages= 102–10 |doi= 10.1038/sj.hdy.6800842 |pmid= 16721391 |s2cid= 21451857 |doi-access= free }}

The name suggests its origins lie in the Lagarina valley of Trentino. It was mentioned as early as in the 17th century, in records of the Muri Abbey near Bolzano.{{cite web |title=The Oxford Companion to Wine: Lagrein |url= http://www.winepros.com.au/jsp/cda/reference/oxford_entry.jsp?entry_id=1710 |url-status= dead |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20080727120050/http://www.winepros.com.au/jsp/cda/reference/oxford_entry.jsp?entry_id=1710 |archivedate= 2008-07-27 }}

Wine regions

Cultivation of Lagrein in South Tyrol usually results in the tannic red wines Lagrein Scuro, or Lagrein Dunkel, or the fragrant rosé wines Lagrein Rosato, or Lagrein Kretzer. In recent years, winemaking techniques have changed, with shortened maceration periods and used oak to achieve less aggressive flavours.

In Australia it is increasing in popularity, increasing from zero at the start of the century to about 40 producers currently, mostly in the cooler parts of the south-eastern states.{{cite web | url=http://www.vinodiversity.com/lagrein-australia.html | title=Lagrein Wine in Australia }} Lagrein was pioneered in Australia by Peter May of Melbourne University’s Burnley Campus who discovered a couple of vines in the "vine library" of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation at Merbein in northeast Victoria, and in part influenced by research by Richard Smart and Peter Dry, planted the variety in his garden-sized vineyard at Kyneton in 1988.{{cite web | url=http://www.vinodiversity.com/lagrein.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090202130808/http://www.vinodiversity.com/lagrein.html | archive-date=2009-02-02 | title=Lagrein - a new winegrape variety for Australia }}

There are small quantities of Lagrein grown in the Central Coast of California{{cite web | url=http://www.tarandroses.net/index.php?option=com_content&id=2633&Itemid=27 | title=Lagrein }} where it produces single varietal wine and is also blended with Syrah and Petite Sirah, and an additional production vineyard in the Umpqua Valley AVA which has {{convert|5|acre}} planted.{{cite web | url=http://www.amaranthridge.com/vineyard.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231110155652/http://www.amaranthridge.com/vineyard.htm | archive-date=2023-11-10 | title=Vineyard }} Additional plantings include small acreage in the Willamette Valley, grown entirely by Montinore Estate.{{Cite web |url=https://www.montinore.com/product/2016-Lagrein |title=Montinore Estate - Products - 2016 Lagrein |access-date=2019-04-03 |archive-date=2019-04-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403032708/https://www.montinore.com/product/2016-Lagrein |url-status=dead }} There are also small plantings in the Similkameen Valley in British Columbia, where it makes a single-varietal wine and is also blended with Toroldego.

Styles

Lagrein produces wine with high acidity that are highly tannic. Eric Asimov notes that Lagrein produces {{cquote|... congenial, straightforward wines that can be deliciously plummy, earthy and chewy, dark and full-bodied but not heavy, with a pronounced minerally edge.}}

References

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