Erbaluce or Erbaluce bianca is a white Italian wine grape grown primarily in the Piedmont region around Caluso, in Canavese. In addition to dry table wines, it is used to make with deep golden coloring, such as passito. [Oz Clarke Encyclopedia of Grapes pg 89 Harcourt Books 2001 ]
In the 21st century, DNA profiling determined that Erbaluce has a close genetic relationship with another Piedmontese wine grape, Cascarolo bianco, though the exact nature of that relationship is not yet known.[J. Robinson, J. Harding and J. Vouillamoz Wine Grapes - A complete guide to 1,368 vine varieties, including their origins and flavours pgs 197-198 Allen Lane 2012 ]
Wines
Wines made from Erbaluce tend to be dry with noticeable acidity. While the grape's acidity makes it ideally suitable for sweet wine production, the dry wines need to have considerable amount of fruit in order to balance that acidity. Both the dry and sweet styles of Erbaluce tend to exhibit characteristic
apple aromas and flavors.
Since the 1990s, Piedmontese producers have been working on improving the quality of Erbaluce wines to compete with the whites of
Cortese and
Arneis.
[J. Robinson (ed) "The Oxford Companion to Wine" Third Edition pg 257 Oxford University Press 2006 ]
Erbaluce di Caluso is a DOCG wine.
Synonyms
Erbaluce is also known under the following
synonyms: Alba Lucenti, Albaluce, Albe Lucenti, Ambra, Bianc Rousti, Bianchera, Bianco Rusti, Erba Luce, Erbaluce bianca, Erbalucente, Erbalucente bianca, Erbalus, Erbcalon, Greco Novarese, Repcalon, Trebbiano Gentile, Trebbiano Perugino, Trebbiano Verde dell'Umbria, Uva Rustia, Uva Rustica, and Vernazza di Gattinara.
[ Erbaluce bianca , Vitis International Variety Catalogue, accessed 2010-07-15]
