Recantina

A native red grape of the Asolo hills and Montello in Treviso province, documented since the 1600s — Agostinetti praised it in 1679 as "a grape that makes good and beautiful wine." A survey published in 1874 showed it among the most widely cultivated red grapes across three Treviso comuni, two in Asolo and two in Castelfranco, together producing over 28,000 hectoliters of wine. Yet after 1900 no ampelographer or viticultural study mentioned it again, as if it had mysteriously disappeared.

It survived only in growers' memory and in scattered old vineyards and rows around the Colli Asolani, particularly on the Montello, and was only recovered and revalued starting in the 1990s, once genetic studies clearly distinguished it from other Veneto varieties like Raboso. Medium-large, tri-to-pentalobate leaves and medium, conical or cylindrical-conical clusters carry medium, spherical berries with thick, consistent, intensely blue-black skin, high in both anthocyanins and tannin. The wine is intense ruby with violet reflections, showing red and black fruit (sour cherry, blackberry, currant), light spice, balsamic notes and sometimes graphite or earth, structured with fine but firm tannins, good acidity and a long finish. Today it is cultivated by roughly a dozen producers on barely 10 hectares total, within Montello Asolo/Asolo Montello DOC.