Forastera

Did You Know?

• Forastera is an early to mid-ripening grape variety noted for being very vigorous and prone to producing a large canopy that may need to be kept in check by pruning and canopy management techniques.
• As a varietal, Forastera tends to produce light-bodied and easy drinking wines in both still and sparkling styles, characterized by fresh fruit flavors.
• Over the years, Forastera has been known under synonyms including Ferestiera, Forastera blanca, Forastiera, Forestera, Forestiera, Forestiero, Frastera, Furastera, Furastiera and Uva dell'Isola.

History

The name Forastera likely comes from the Italian word forestiero, meaning "foreign," which suggests the grape may not be native to the Campanian islands. The earliest known mention of Forastera appears in 1877, when winemaker Giuseppe Rovasenda, a count whose family served the Dukes of Savoy, recorded it on the island of Ischia. Another late 19th-century ampelographer, Giuseppe Froio, also described the grape growing there. Rovasenda further noted in the same year that Forastera was cultivated near Grumello del Monte in the province of Bergamo, Lombardy, though it is no longer found there today. This hints that the "foreign" grape might actually originate from northern Italy. For a time, experts believed that the Campanian Forastera had been taken to the Canary Islands, where a white grape of the same name is still used in several Denominación de Origen wines. However, DNA testing in the early 21st century proved that the Italian and Spanish varieties are genetically distinct and not closely related.