ISCHIA FORASTERA Pietratorcia

The foreign vine variety

The Forastera vine variety has a history that is certainly ancient, but its origins are certainly not known. This is why it appears mysterious. We begin to talk about this vine variety for the first time in the second half of the 800 when there are the first documents that talk about a Forastera vine in the province of Naples, and in particular in some municipalities of Ischia and a Forastiera in Grumello del Monte , in the province of Bergamo, but without explaining whether it is the same grape or a simple assonance in the name. The Forastera seems to have been introduced to Ischia, then becoming elective land, just at the beginning of the nineteenth century to counter the effects of Phylloxera which had decimated the most well-known and rooted Biancolella. La Forastera resulted and is, in fact, more resistant to the parasite. For this reason, of sudden arrival on the Island, the name could derive from "foreign vine variety". La Forastera, although more resistant to Phylloxera, is still a more complex and unstable vine variety to grow and in fact lives in a marginal key with the best known and stable Biancolella. Vinified in purity, it gives life to the Forastera DOC, while it is assembled with other vines (the Biancolella) to give life to the Bianco of Ischia.