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Raboso,
Piave's native son
Raboso
is an ancient wine,
produced from one of the rare vine varieties which grew in north-eastern
Italy even before the time of
the Roman Empire.
This is confirmed by Pliny the Elder in
his Naturalis Historia; he wrote that
this area already produced Picina omnium nigerrima,
a wine blacker than pitch and the ancestor not only of Raboso,
but of Terrano, Refosco and Friularo. |
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With
the fall of the Roman empire,
the cultureof winemaking, too, fell into oblivion.
Only when Venice spread its civilisation
to the mainland would the memory of this wine be kindled anew.
In 1679, Jacopo Agostinelli, from Treviso,
wrote a book of thoughts entitled "Cento e dieci ricordi
che formano il buon fattor di villa" (One Hundred
and Ten Reminiscences to Make a Good Steward) and a few of those
concern Raboso wine. "Here in our
country," he wrote in reminiscence no. 24, "we
make chiefly red wines for Venice from a red grape called recaldina,
which some call rabosa for its strong character.” |
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More
information about Raboso wine were provided
in more recent times by the Istituto Enologico Trevigiano
and by Antonio Carpené who wrote about
red Rabosa in 1881.
Carpené also wrote that, of the grapes
he had experimented with for winemaking purposes, red
Rabosa nera was perhaps the most important variety of eastern
Veneto, especially because it was so widespread.
Antonio Carpené
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In
the Bollettino Ampelografico of 1885,
Raboso del Piave is specifically mentioned, and according
to the Bulletin: “this type of wine has always been considered
very important... We can remember when similar wines were sent abroad
to great acclaim; until only a few years ago the cellars of rich Englishmen
still contained bottles of this wine, which was procured and given
to them by the last ambassadors to the Republic of Venice”.
The Republic of Venice came to an end in 1797 and
just a few years prior to 1885 there were still bottles
of Raboso del Piave to be found in English cellars. It is
therefore reasonable to believe that Raboso had for many centuries
been considered one of the chief and leading wines produced in the
Treviso area. |
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Raboso
in modern times
In 1937, Giovanni Dalmasso
stated that out of the 65,000 hectolitres of red wine produced
in Sinistra Piave, 58,000 were of Raboso Piave;
and of the 85,000 hectolitres of wine made in the area around
Motta di Livenza, San Donà di Piave and Meolo, 70,000
were Raboso Veronese. |
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Immediately
after the Second World War, in 1949, Raboso was still the
dominant wine of the area. In Sinistra Piave, Raboso Piave
accounted for as much as 80% of the 100,000 hectolitres
of wine made there, while the stretch of land between Motta and San
Donà produced 85,000 hectolitres of Raboso Veronese out of
a total of 140,000.
Between the 50s and 60s of the last century, wine-growers in the Piave
zone favoured varieties that produced more marketable wines, especially
- with regard to red wines - Merlot and Cabernet.
The cultivation of Raboso Piave gradually declined
and it was only in the 1990s that it was restored
to popularity and gradually developed thanks to the Confraternita
del Raboso Piave (Confraternity of Raboso Piave) founded
by a few brave wine producers. |
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Vine and wine
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Raboso
Piave is a native grape variety whose
presence in the lands around the Piave is mentioned in XVII-century
records. It has a full right to bear the name “Piave”
for its historical origins and its constant presence, spanning
the centuries, in the land bathed by the water of the
river that is sacred to the heroes of the First World
War. |
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Its traditional production zone stretches
from the Piave river across the plain of Treviso,
from Conegliano to Vazzola and on to Oderzo, Motta di Livenza and
San Donà di Piave.
It produces quite a large, tight, cylindrical bunch with one or two
wings, which may be quite evident, and a sturdy, woody bunchstem.
Its spheroid grape has a blue-black, tough skin with good bloom. Green-reddish
pedicel.
The flesh has a varietal, neutral flavour which is slightly meaty
and
sweet-acidulous-astringent. Each grape has two or three average-sized,
pear-shaped seeds.
This very vigorous vine produces an abundant yield. |
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Optimal
vinification requires appropriate maceration of juice
and skins: this results in a full-bodied wine,
acidic and tannic when young, ideal for laying down.
Left to age in wooden barrels, it will gradually
acquire a beautiful deep ruby colour with garnet tinges, a wonderfully
broad and full bouquet of wild violets with a concentrated note
of morello cherry. |
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The palate is dry, attractively astringent,
full-flavoured, faintly acidic, deeply satisfying.
At full maturity, Raboso Piave
is one of the great Italian reds, excellent
with furred and feathered game, red meat,
grilled meats and well-matured cheeses.
It is also a superb sipping wine, an ideal
accompaniment to long winter evenings in the company of friends. |
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