white grape · regional staple
Grecanico
Veneto, Italy
Say it
greh·kah·nee·koh
Hard 'c' throughout; four syllables with stress on second; final 'o' is short and unrounded.
On the palate
lemonwhite peachapricotpearchamomilealmond
How you spot it blind: Bitter almond finish that survives even workhorse flatland expressions
The story
First written down · c. 1304, Veneto/Emilia-Romagna (Pietro de' Crescenzi)
DNA studies in 2003 and 2008 confirmed that Grecanico Dorato of Sicily is genetically identical to Garganega, uniting two separately named varieties grown 1,000 km apart.
Where it lives
Veneto (Soave, Gambellara, Bianco di Custoza) · Sicily (as Grecanico Dorato)
Shows up as
still whitesweetsparklingSoave DOCSoave Classico DOCGRecioto di Soave DOCGGambellara DOC