The Spring Edition of Wine Vernissage 2017 presented an absolutely one-of-a-kind wine, Alb de Onitcani 2016, made of Moldovan selection grapes Alb de Onitcani. Among others, it was appreciated by a famous UK expert Robert Joseph. In fact, this variety had been underestimated for quite a while, thus, not used by producers. But thanks to the winemakers of SRL Tartcomvin, at last Alb de Onitcani has stirred up genuine interest of consumers and winemaking companies.
Who are the authors?
According to habilitated doctor Mihail Cuharschi from the Scientific Practical Institute of Horticulture, Viticulture and Food Technology, this variety was created by a group of researchers from Chisinau Agrarian Institute and Moldovan Wine Research Institute “Vierul” in the 1960s. The authors: D. Verderevschi, C. Voitovici, and I. Naidenova; co-authors: V. Buimistru, T. Carcevscaia, P. Apruda, B. Smentina, and V. Ponomarcenco.
Alb de Onitcani is a technical variety obtained from pollination of Chil Gyulyabi with a mixture of Seyve Villard 20-366 and Seyanets 244 pollen.
Variety Characteristics
Having tried the wine, many producers got interested in its characteristics. Grapes are medium-size, cylinder-conical, dense. Berries are light-green, medium-size, slightly oval. The pulp is juicy: contains 80.2% of juice, for comparison, Aligote has less juice – 74.3%. Seeds, skin, and solid waste make up 14.2% and 18%, correspondingly, i.e. the grape must yield in the new variety is very good.
In 1976, Alb de Onitcani was selected for national variety testing. Research findings date back to that period. And it is known that the climate in Moldova in the 1970s was much cooler compared to the last years. Back then, Alb de Onitcani would ripen by the end of September or beginning of October. In some years it would not ripen so well, accumulating less sugars and thus more acidity.
In 1977, the sugar content in grape berries on the vines grown in two places in Criuleni district (Central zone) made up 166-170 g/dm3 with acidity of 9.8-8.3 g/dm3 as of September 30. That is why the variety was mostly used for producing raw wine distilaltes. While in the South of the country, in Comrat district, the sugar content was already 210 g/dm3 and acidity – 7.9 g/dm3. This means that this variety is better cultivated in the southern region.
Yet back in the 1970s they made the conclusion that sandy-loam soil of southern slopes was more suitable for Alb de Onitcani than the central zone. While due to the climate warming, it might already be doing well in the central zone as well.
High Yield Variety. For several years the yield amounted to 12-16 t/ha, while in 1978 and 1979 it was 18 t/ha.
Incredibly Resistant
It is very important how the variety behaves during cultivation. Alb de Onitcani has high frost resistance tolerating low temperatures up to -28оС.
The variety’s resistance to mildew was tested in the period of rapid advancement of this disease in a vineyard in Comrat district. They chose Rkatsiteli and Muscat Ottonel growing in the same conditions for comparison. The result was surprising. The grapes of Muscat Ottonel variety got 100% affected, the disease developed by 62%. In Rkatsiteli these indicators were 80% and 41% correspondingly. The grapes of Alb de Onitcani did not get affected by mildew.
Also, it was established that this variety had an overall resistance to gray mold, bitter rot (anthracnose), powdery mildew (oidium), and vine louse (phylloxera). All of these plus frost resistance allow cultivating it without chemical protection and on high trunk, without covering for winter and on own roots. The bushes grow big.
The scientists have noted that Alb de Onitcani can also be used as a donor of complex immunity when developing new disease and frost resistant technical grape varieties.
With such characteristics, this variety can be used as raw material for organic production of wine, juice, raisin, etc. that is in high demand now in the EU and cost at least 20% more than regular products. This niche still has enough space for Moldovan “bio”-marked products.
Interesting Wine
The wine produced from grapes grown in the South got a tasting mark of 8.4 out of 10 back then. The tasting notes say: “The wine is light and balanced; the taste reveals slight shades of Sauvignon”. However nowadays, due to hotter weather, the varietal wine Alb de Onitcani has become much more interesting, as demonstrated by Tartcomvin.
The company has discovered Alb de Onitcani for us, although they are not the only ones growing this variety. Plantations of Alb de Onitcani are owned by KVINT and Calarasi Divin, but they use this variety for producing raw wine distillates. Having seen the success of Alb de Onitcani dry wine, recently Salcuta Company has also planted a vineyard of Alb de Onitcani.
Tartcomvin SRL started planting this variety in Comrat area in 2008-2009, and having spotted the potential has increased the area of plantation up to 8 ha.
We realized it was our variety”, says the company director, Andrei Novak. “But it requires special care, because it overloads itself. I would call it a suicidal variety. Bearing this in mind, we remove around 30% of grape bunches and harvest about 7 t/ha. At the beginning we used Alb de Onitcani in a mix of varieties and would sell it as wine material in bulk. The first varietal wine for bottling was made from 2016 yield. The Alb de Onitcani wine entered the market under the Novak brand. And the wine from 2017 yield turned out to be exceptional”.
Until now winemakers thought the acidity in this variety was too high and never considered it for varietal wine. But the last two autumns were very warm, the grapes were accumulating sugar very well, and acidity in grape berries was going down correspondingly. Tartcomvin’s oenologists experimented with different yeasts until they picked the optimal one. After low temperature fermentation, the must was moved to oak barrels for secondary fermentation.
A Lame Name?
You get wine with a nice floral aroma from Alb de Onitcani”, considers expert winemaker of ONVV Elizaveta Breahna. “But I have no idea how we are going to promote Alb de Onitcani. The name is difficult to pronounce even for those who live in Moldova, let alone foreigners. The name of the variety has to be promoted, which requires a lot of time and money. What can we tell about it, that it originates from parents nobody has heard about? I think that a way out could be to use Alb de Onitcani in blends, for instance, with Chardonnay.
Many producers have been seeking advice on planting vineyards of this variety. But it has hardly been studied in wine yet. It is necessary to study the potential of this wine thoroughly, how it is going to show itself, what its life span is in bottles. In any case, Alb de Onitcani is interesting as wine material for distillates due to high yield and acidity.
And it is too early to speak about it as varietal wine with geographical indication. If we want to make quality wine, we need to be clear with the load on the bush. It has to be up to 3.5 kg per bush. We have to experiment with the load, leaving 2 kg, 3 kg, and 3.5 kg to see how it affects the wine potential. Also we need to study the area for growing Alb de Onitcani, where it is going to do better. For now, the experience of one producer is not enough to make conclusions”.
Maybe we could think of a synonym for this variety to make it suitable for export markets and easy to pronounce. Such characteristics of Alb de Onitcani as disease and frost resistance reduce costs of its cultivation and together with high yield determine low production cost – what Moldovan producers have lacked to compete with the Spanish.
And if we certify our wines as organic, we could gain an additional advantage. And that is already going to be our exclusive and unique offer – wine made from a local variety with good consumption characteristics, low cost of production and organic qualities.
