Moscato Cerletti, a rediscovered aromatic cultivar with oenological potential in warm and dry areas
Antonio Sparacio,
Francesco Mercati,
Filippo Sciara,
Antonino Pisciotta,
Felice Capraro,
Salvatore Sparla,
Loredana Abbate,
Antonio Mauceri,
Diego Planeta,
Onofrio Corona,
Manna Crespan,
Francesco Sunseri,
Maria Gabriella Barbagallo
Affiliations
Antonio Sparacio
Istituto Regionale del Vino e dell’Olio, Via Libertà 66 – I-90129 Palermo
Francesco Mercati
CNR - National Research Council of Italy - Institute of Biosciences and Bioresources (IBBR) - Corso Calatafimi 414, I-90129 Palermo
Filippo Sciara
Istituto Regionale del Vino e dell’Olio, Via Libertà 66 – I-90129 Palermo - Department of Agricultural, Food and Forest Sciences, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze 11 ed. H, I-90128 Palermo
Antonino Pisciotta
Department of Agricultural, Food and Forest Sciences, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze 11 ed. H, I-90128 Palermo
Felice Capraro
Istituto Regionale del Vino e dell’Olio, Via Libertà 66 – I-90129 Palermo
Salvatore Sparla
Istituto Regionale del Vino e dell’Olio, Via Libertà 66 – I-90129 Palermo
Loredana Abbate
CNR - National Research Council of Italy - Institute of Biosciences and Bioresources (IBBR) - Corso Calatafimi 414, I-90129 Palermo
Antonio Mauceri
Department AGRARIA - Università Mediterranea of Reggio Calabria - Feo di Vito, I-89124 Reggio Calabria
Diego Planeta
Department of Agricultural, Food and Forest Sciences, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze 11 ed. H, I-90128 Palermo
Onofrio Corona
Department of Agricultural, Food and Forest Sciences, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze 11 ed. H, I-90128 Palermo
Manna Crespan
CREA - Centro di ricerca per la viticoltura e l’enologia – Viale XXVIII Aprile 26, Conegliano (Treviso)
Francesco Sunseri
Department AGRARIA - Università Mediterranea of Reggio Calabria - Feo di Vito, I-89124 Reggio Calabria
Maria Gabriella Barbagallo
Department of Agricultural, Food and Forest Sciences, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze 11 ed. H, I-90128 Palermo
Baron Antonio Mendola was devoted to the study of grapevine, applying ampelography and dabbling in crosses between cultivars in order to select new ones, of which Moscato Cerletti, obtained in 1869, was the most interesting. Grillo, one of the most important white cultivars in Sicily, was ascertained to be an offspring of Catarratto Comune and Zibibbo, the same parents which Mendola claimed he used to obtain Moscato Cerletti. Thus the hypothesis of synonymy between Moscato Cerletti and Grillo or the same parentage for both sets of parents needs to be verified. In the present study, historical documents were consulted and genetic analyses and ampelographic, agronomic and qualitative characterisation carried out to determine the distinctiveness of each cultivars. These were also compared with Catarratto Comune and Zibibbo in order to establish the Moscato Cerletti pedigree. Due to their different SSR profiles, Grillo and Moscato Cerletti were confirmed as two distinct cultivars; they also differed in ripening times and sugar storage ability, as well as in the aromatic grape produced by Moscato Cerletti only. The trio genotype genetic analysis confirmed that Zibibbo is a parent of Moscato Cerletti (justifying the aromatic grape), whilst the SSR profiles did not show Catarratto Comune to be a second parent. Moscato Cerletti was found to have oenological potential in the production of sparkling muscat wines due to its ability to adapt to a changing climate in warm and dry environments and in different winegrowing regions.
