Trebbiano di Soave

Also known as Turbiana, Trebbiano di Lugana.

A white grape almost certainly identical to the ancient "Turbiana," documented in the Soave/Lugana area since at least the 16th century, and genetically established as a clone of Verdicchio — not, despite the shared name, the same grape as Trebbiano Toscano. The distinction from Trebbiano Toscano was first proposed ampelographically by Molon (1906) and confirmed by Cosmo (1965); Trebbiano di Soave was registered as its own variety in Italy's National Vine Variety Register in 1970 (MASAF scheda 239). Cluster shape, leaf, and berry skin all differ markedly from Trebbiano Toscano — the skin is thicker, the cluster more compact and more prone to rot.

This dataset uses "Trebbiano di Soave" as the canonical name because that is what all six Veneto/cross-region denominations referencing it (Soave, Soave Superiore, Recioto di Soave, Garda, Gambellara, Lugana) call it in their own disciplinare text, and it is a distinct MASAF registry entry in its own right — not a synonym of the already-built Trebbiano Toscano. In Lugana, whose zone straddles the Veneto-Lombardia border, the same grape is called by its older name "Turbiana" (or "Trebbiano di Lugana") — noted here as an aka rather than a separate entity. Within the Soave zone itself the variety is now scarce, surviving mainly in subzones like Castelcerino, Fittà and Calvarino; post-WWII producers largely replaced it with the hardier Trebbiano Toscano. Wines show a distinctive mandarin-peel character reminiscent of Alsatian Pinot Blanc, rose perfume, and a delicate salinity.