red grape · regional specialty
Molinara
Veneto, Italy
Say it
mo·li·nah·rah
Standard Italian penultimate stress; four even syllables
On the palate
Body
light
Acidity
high
Tannin
low
Aromatics
medium
red cherrystrawberrycranberrydried herbssalinitywhite pepper
How you spot it blind: pronounced saline-mineral quality; unusually pale color for a red grape
The story
First written down · early 19th century, Verona Province, Veneto
Once mandatory in Valpolicella DOC blends, Molinara lost required status in the early 2000s and shed more than half its Italian plantings (1,301 ha in 2000 to 595 ha in 2010); a 2021 SNP-genotyping study (Frontiers in Plant Science, PMC7874015) identified it as an offspring of the Vulpea variety.
Family tree: VULPEA × ?
Where it lives
Valpolicella, Veneto · Bardolino, Veneto
Shows up as
still redroséValpolicellaAmarone della ValpolicellaBardolino