Lugana Trebbiano: Research on Genetic Variability and Production Area
There are numerous grape varieties known as Trebbiano in Italy, including the one used for the production of Lugana DOC wines. These belong to a major group of varietals exhibiting very different productive characteristics.
They range from areas where the grapes are used to produce low-alcohol wines with good acidity levels, meant for easy consumption, to regions where wines of great structure and aromatic complexity are produced, aimed at more attentive consumers capable of appreciating them.
Characteristics and Production Area of Lugana
Regarding Lugana, it is a wine made with 90% Trebbiano grapes, which the DOC regulations define as “Trebbiano di Soave”.
This reality has recently shown a desire, following authoritative research demonstrating that the Trebbiano cultivar used in the Lugana production zone “displays a good morpho-biochemical variability”, which means an originality that sets it apart and makes it autonomous within the Trebbiano family. Its growth and flowering in Lugana territory have made it unique.
In this area, the wine industry structure based on small and medium-sized companies aims to produce high-quality wines.
Study and Research on the Lugana Trebbiano Grape
An in-depth study on the origins of this cultivar and its precise varietal identification was commissioned by Provincial Agriculture Councillor Giampaolo Mantelli and conducted by the Provincial Viticultural Center of Broscia and the Lugana Protection Consortium in collaboration with the Department of Plant Production at the Università di Milano, to enhance the value of wines produced in this area.
In recent years, the development of molecular biology, particularly the use of molecular markers, has enabled the creation of fingerprinting for important cultivars and the determination of kinship relationships among different varieties.
Based on these considerations, this study set out a work program for the varietal characterization, performed with molecular techniques, of Trebbiano di Lugana compared with various Trebbianos present in Italy. Additionally, to define possible phylogenetic relationships, genetic similarity values between them and a group of reference white grapevine cultivars were determined.
Results of Molecular Analyses
The investigation of these markers (microsatellites) revealed an extremely high genetic variability among the cultivars currently cultivated in Italy under the name Trebbiano.
The comparative molecular analysis of the data obtained from Trebbiano varieties with comparison varieties, chosen based on morphological similarities, homonyms, synonyms, and proximity of cultivation areas, did not show close phylogenetic relationships among them, except between Trebbiano di Soave, Verdicchio, and Trebbiano di Lugana, which, although falling within the same grouping, differ from the first two.
Intravarietal Variability of Trebbiano di Lugana
Furthermore, an analysis of intravarietal variability of Trebbiano di Lugana was conducted. This study involved eleven ecotypes through biochemical methodologies, such as protein analysis of root tips, comparing the results with flow cytometry analysis.
The Trebbiano di Lugana population shows high intravarietal variability, allowing for selective pressures to generate clones that are very different from each other.
In conclusion, it can be stated that Trebbiano varieties represent a very broad group of cultivars both phenotypically and genotypically.