葡萄详情

Catarratto is a grape variety from the island of Sicily, off the southern coast of Italy, and is mostly used in the production of light, easy-drinking white wines. Despite being grown almost exclusively in Sicily, it is one of Italy's most commonly planted grape varieties, making up around 60 percent of the island's total vineyard area.

The variety is commonly regarded (and widely used) as a lower-quality blending component, or an ingredient in Marsala wines, as well as grape concentrate. Catarratto is high-yielding and rather neutral-tasting, with low acidity – hardly the benchmarks of a top quality grape. That said, careful vinification from dedicated producers has shown the variety is capable of producing interesting wines with juicy texture and crisp lemon flavors.

Catarratto is permitted in Alcamo and Etna DOC wines, the latter blended with Carricante. It is also used widely in IGT wines, where less-stringent winemaking regulations let winemakers coax more from the grape. Here, it is blended with other varieties like Inzolia, Grillo and Chardonnay, but occasionally shows up as a varietal wine.

Catarratto was long thought to be two distinct grape varieties, Catarratto Bianco Comune and Catarratto Bianco Lucido. DNA testing in 2008 suggested that the two are genetically identical and, instead of being separate varieties, they are in fact different clones of the same grape variety. There is some argument as to whether or not one is superior: both are high yielding, but Comune is used more often as a bulk wine, and is distinguished by a white bloom on the berries.

The same research suggested that Catarratto is probably a descendent of Garganega, the key white-wine grape variety in northeastern Italy's Soave wines.

Synonyms include: Catarratto Bianco, Catarratto Bianco Comune, Catarratto Bianco Lucido, Catarratto Bianco Extra Lucido.

Food matches for Catarratto include:

• Tuna and caper salad
• Hainanese chicken rice
• Sautéed prawns with chilli