Barbarossa

Barbarossa is the name of several red/pink colored Italian wine grape varieties. At one point the French wine grape Barbaroux was thought to also be a Barbarossa grape but DNA evidence published in 2009 confirmed that the French Barbaroux grown in Provence was a separate variety distinct from, at least, the Barbarossa grapes grown in Piedmont and Liguria. Further research is still being done map out the exact relation among all the Barbarossa varieties in Italy and with the Barbaroux grape grown in Corsica. History The word Barbarossa is Italian for "red beard". According to legend in Emilia-Romagna, the grape was named after the red-bearded Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I ("Frederick Barbarossa") who spent time in the region during his many campaigns through Italy in the 12th century. However the earliest mention of a Barbarossa grape was not till 1600 when the Italian writer Giovanvettorio Soderini (also known under the pen name of Ciriegiulo) described a Tuscan wine grape under that name. As there are no current recorded plantings of a Barbarossa variety in Tuscany it is possible that Soderini's Barbarossa is extinct. Wine regions