RedLead grape in 1
Gamba di Pernice
A red grown at Calosso in the Asti hills and effectively nowhere else. It ripens very late, holds high acid and gives a light coloured, perfumed, lightly tannic wine with red fruit and spice. It came close to disappearing entirely and survives on a few dozen hectares.
Worth knowing
The name means partridge leg, for the bright red stalk of the bunch in autumn. Several unrelated Italian grapes are named for the colour of their stems, which was one of the few ways to tell vines apart before anyone could test them.
Where it is allowed1 appellation