San Gioveto grosso

Main Characteristics of San Gioveto grosso Grape

The San Gioveto grosso variety is an outstanding technical grape, also recognized as Sangiovese, which serves as the core component for the most prestigious and authoritative wines of the Italian provinces of Florence and Siena. The earliest documented records of this grape under the name San Zoveto date back to 1763 in the treatises of Trinci. The historical birthplace of this variant is the Chianti valley, where the San Gioveto grosso grape variety is cultivated on the largest scale. The vine is widely distributed throughout the Sieve river valley (including the vineyards of Rufina, Pomino, and Nipozzano), as well as on the famous hills of San Casciano in Val di Pesa. The variety is highly valued for its consistent productivity and the premium quality of the resulting wine, whose specific bouquet forms the unique, recognizable character of the finest Tuscan wines.

Complete berry ripening concludes during the first decade of October. The San Gioveto grosso grape variety demonstrates well-balanced harvest conditions: the average must density is 1.080, the sugar (glucose) content consistently reaches 20%, and the titratable acidity is maintained at a moderate level of approximately 6 g/l, providing the wine with a harmonious structure.

Morphological Description of the San Gioveto grosso Grape Variety

• Shoots: Characterized by very high vigor, with shoots developing powerfully. The canes feature fine striations; they are relatively thick and soft when pruned. In its woody state, the cane displays a chestnut coloration with weakly defined nodes. The internodes are short, measuring about 5–6 centimeters in length. Buds are inconspicuous and slightly flattened (depressed).
• Shoot Tips: The herbaceous shoot exhibits a clean, light green coloration. The developing young leaves are characterized by a pale green color. Tendrils are simple, bifid, and light green.
• Mature Leaf: Large, entire, with the length of the blade clearly exceeding its width. The leaf features a smooth, translucent, glossy upper surface of a rich, deep matte green color. In autumn, the blade becomes covered with characteristic rusty or sooty spots. The leaf blade is slightly wavy and marginally rolled upward toward the upper surface. The lower surface is practically glabrous, showing a lighter shade of green. The blade is three-lobed, with the basal lobes being barely defined. The central lobe is elongated and pointed. The lateral sinuses are shallow to moderately deep and regularly elliptical. The petiolar sinus at the base is open and conical. The leaf margins feature dense, sharp, and distinctly pronounced teeth, with the central tooth of each lobe being elongated and claw-shaped. On the upper surface, the veins are thin and flat; on the lower surface, they are rounded, prominent, highly branched, and clearly visible down to the finest terminal ramifications. The petiole is cylindrical, light green with barely noticeable pinkish streaks, and equal in length to the central vein. Leaf fall occurs late.
• Bunch: Medium in size, short, and conical in shape. A distinctive feature is the presence of an additional branch (appendix) extending directly from the peduncle, visually creating a double bunch on a single axis. The structure of the bunch is simple and loose. The herbaceous rachis is short, green, and becomes partially woody at the point of attachment to the cane. The bunch peduncle (rachis stem) is robust and short. The berry pedicels (fruit stems) are long and light green in color.
• Berry: Large in size, regularly oval in shape. The skin is thick, firm, showing a beautiful blackish-violet color, and is covered with a dense waxy bloom (pruine). The berries demonstrate exceptional resistance to cracking during prolonged autumn rains. The pulp is watery, highly juicy, with a simple, harmonious sweet-tart flavor profile. Each berry contains between 2 and 4 large seeds.

Viticultural Specifics of the San Gioveto grosso Variety

Under commercial viticulture conditions, the San Gioveto grosso grape variety prefers warm, well-heated exposures facing south and east. The vine delivers its best performance on rich, fertile argillo-calcareous soils. The San Gioveto grosso grape variety adapts successfully to various training methods. When managed with high-training systems where the vines are trained up trees, predominantly maple or elm (these recommendations are specific to 1879, when the book "Ampelografia Italiana" was published), the plant develops a powerful vegetative mass and yields an abundant harvest; however, under low-trained bush systems on stakes, the total volume of harvested grapes decreases. The variety tolerates long pruning well, retaining fruiting canes, but is traditionally pruned short—to renewal spurs with two eyes—which allows for the development of maximum bunch sizes and strong replacement shoots for the following season.

Flowering and fruit set occur early, shatter is rare, and fruiting is stable and abundant. The San Gioveto grosso grape variety possesses a valuable biological advantage—outstanding natural resistance of both the vine and berries to powdery mildew (oidium) and adverse atmospheric precipitation during harvest. In winemaking, the variety yields an excellent dry wine of a rich garnet color with a large body. However, in monovarietal expressions, the wine tends to acquire an overly pronounced yellowish-brick tint over time. Due to this characteristic, it is customary in Tuscany to assimilate the San Gioveto grosso grape variety with other black varieties (such as Canaiuolo nero and Mammolo nero) or to add a small proportion of white Trebbiano to impart greater softness, roundness, and velvetiness to the palate.