Pecorino (grape)

Pecorino is a white Italian wine grape variety that is grown in the Marche, Abruzzo, Liguria, Tuscany, Umbria and Lazio regions of Italy. Ampelographers believe that the grape is likely native to Marche, Arquata del Tronto in Ascoli Piceno province, where it is still used today in the DOCG wines (Offida Pecorino DOCG), Denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) wines of Falerio dei Colli Ascolani, Colli Maceratesi and Offida.

History

Ampelographers believe that Pecorino is a very old variety that likely originated as a wild grapevine growing in the Arquata del Tronto, that was eventually domesticated for wine production. Despite its name, there is no direct link between the Pecorino grape and Pecorino cheese. Ampelographers believe that the grape's name stems from the Italian word pecora, meaning sheep. Local legend is that sheep in the Marche region would often eat the grapes while moving through the vineyards.

Viticulture

Pecorino is an early ripening variety that tends to naturally produce low yields even without severe winter pruning. The variety does not have many viticultural hazards with a strong resistance to downy and powdery mildew.

Grape

A grape is a fruiting berry of the deciduous woody vines of the botanical genus Vitis.

Grapes can be eaten raw or they can be used for making wine, jam, juice, jelly, grape seed extract, raisins, vinegar, and grape seed oil. Grapes are a non-climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters.

History

The cultivation of the domesticated grape began 6,000–8,000 years ago in the Near East.Yeast, one of the earliest domesticated microorganisms, occurs naturally on the skins of grapes, leading to the innovation of alcoholic drinks such as wine. The earliest archeological evidence for a dominant position of wine-making in human culture dates from 8,000 years ago in Georgia. The oldest winery was found in Armenia, dating to around 4000 BC. By the 9th century AD the city of Shiraz was known to produce some of the finest wines in the Middle East. Thus it has been proposed that Syrah red wine is named after Shiraz, a city in Persia where the grape was used to make Shirazi wine. Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics record the cultivation of purple grapes, and history attests to the ancient Greeks, Phoenicians, and Romans growing purple grapes for both eating and wine production. The growing of grapes would later spread to other regions in Europe, as well as North Africa, and eventually in North America.

Shades of violet

There are numerous variations of the color violet, a sampling of which are shown below.

Variations of the color violet

Variations of spectral violet

Although pure spectrum violet is outside the color gamut of the RGB color space, the three colors displayed below are rough approximations of the range of colors of actual spectral violet, although the accuracy of the approximation can vary depending on the individual's color vision, and on the color rendition of one's computer monitor.

Color wheel violet

The tertiary color on the HSV color wheel (also known as the RGB color wheel) precisely halfway between blue and magenta is called color wheel violet. This tone of violet—an approximation of the color violet at about 417 nanometers as plotted on the CIE chromaticity diagram—is shown at right. This tone of violet is actually somewhat toward indigo assuming indigo is accepted as a separate spectrum color, usually quoted as having a range of from about 420 to 450 nanometers. Another name for this color is near violet.

Grape (disambiguation)

A grape is a fruit that grows on the vines of plants in the genus Vitis.

Grape may also refer to:

See also