LATimes:ItalianVarietals In Calif

Or is it "Italian Varieties in Calif"??? Where's the word police when I need them??
An interesting if shallow article by Verbilia in today's LATimes on Italian Varieties/Varietals in Calif:
LATimes:ItalianVarietalsInCalif

It used to be that I'd go to the LATimes every Wed or Thurs to take a look at their Food section. They used to have some very good/informative articles by RussParsons & PatrickComiskey. Alas, it's just a shadow of its former self. How the mighty have fallen.
Tom

Aglianico for the Central Valley? My first instinct was no way but then took a breath and thought about it. Yeah maybe not so bad of an idea. In my yard in Maryland, Aglianico has shown that it can take the heat and still produce decent fruit. It crops on the heavy side, is a consistent performer, has a small problem with downy and rot here but is better than Barbera and Sangio for both and the pressure should be less in Central Valley. It seems to retain more character than the Barbera. Color can be lighter than some might want but nothing mega purple can't fix.

Not sure how one sells it so I assume you give it a trade name or use it as a blender for other insipid reds coming out of there to give them some character while being able to use a varietal label.

Or am I completely misrepresenting the wines of Central Valley?

Aglianico should see more planting in California. It's well suited to it. Suggesting Central Valley to me does more harm than good.

Aglianico for the Central Valley? My first instinct was no way but then took a breath and thought about it. Yeah maybe not so bad of an idea. In my yard in Maryland, Aglianico has shown that it can take the heat and still produce decent fruit. It crops on the heavy side, is a consistent performer, has a small problem with downy and rot here but is better than Barbera and Sangio for both and the pressure should be less in Central Valley. It seems to retain more character than the Barbera. Color can be lighter than some might want but nothing mega purple can't fix.
Not sure how one sells it so I assume you give it a trade name or use it as a blender for other insipid reds coming out of there to give them some character while being able to use a varietal label.
Or am I completely misrepresenting the wines of Central Valley?
Aglianico should see more planting in California. It's well suited to it. Suggesting Central Valley to me does more harm than good.

Brian,
I expect it could make a pretty decent wine in Lodi. John&Jody are growing it at LunaMatta in Paso
and the version Ryan & Megan make at Ryme is frighteningly good. Maybe best in the world. See my recent TN's on it.
Tom

Tom, while Aglianico seems to fare ok in the heat I get the feeling it still performs best in areas not quite so hot. I understand that most of the Italian versions I love come from higher elevation vineyards and the idea of the hot southern Italian climate is not exactly true. Same with Luna Matta right. Isn't that a marine influenced vineyard that is cold by Paso standards? So west side Paso would make sense but I wonder if it would really shine east of the highway. It does hang long and retains acid well so obviously not suited to the coolest of sites. Also soil type, it performs well on my sand and isn't most of the sites in S. Italy volcanic?

Or is it "Italian Varieties in Calif"??? Where's the word police when I need them??

"Varietal" is an adjective meaning "of or pertaining to a variety". Used as a noun, "varietal" is a contraction of the phrase "varietal wine", meaning a wine made from only one grape variety. "Italian Varietals in Calif" would be a proper title for a discussion of wines made from one Italian grape variety. "Italian Varieties in Calif" would be a proper title for a discussion of Italian vines and grapes as used in California.

-Detective Winalski, Internet Word Police

Or is it "Italian Varieties in Calif"??? Where's the word police when I need them??

"Varietal" is an adjective meaning "of or pertaining to a variety". Used as a noun, "varietal" is a contraction of the phrase "varietal wine", meaning a wine made from only one grape variety. "Italian Varietals in Calif" would be a proper title for a discussion of wines made from one Italian grape variety. "Italian Varieties in Calif" would be a proper title for a discussion of Italian vines and grapes as used in California.
-Detective Winalski, Internet Word Police

So...thank you DetectiveWinalski. So which one is the correct usage depends upon what I'm thinking of in my mind...Italian grape
varieties grown in Calif, or wines made from Italian grape varieties. So you have to get inside my head to figure which one is correct.
I only give my girlfriend and NSA unfettered access to my mind. But not any hotshot InterNet Detectives. Sorry!!
Tom