The Winery The Broken Tractor of West Virginia

Discover the grape variety: Nerello mascalese

A very old grape variety grown in Italy, more precisely in the north of Sicily on the slopes of Mount Etna and in Sardinia. Its origin would be Greek because it was reported in Greece in the 7th century B.C. It is the result of a natural intraspecific crossing between sangiovese or nielluccio and mantonico bianco. It should not be confused with nerello capuccio and pignatello nero. It should be noted that Nerello mascalese seems to be a grape variety adapted to altitude, as is the case in Sicily where it is planted at a rate of 6,000 and 9,000 vines per hectare. It is practically unknown in other wine-producing countries, which is certainly due to its late ripening.