A wild vine known to the Etruscans and
Romans The Latin name "Labrusca vitis" referred
to a wild vine which produced bitter-tasting fruits and
grew along the fringes of farmlands. This has been identified
as the most ancient forebear of the Lambrusco grape, today
cultivated in numerous varieties and which, together,
make up an illustrious and renowned family. More precisely,
it was derived from the wild grapevines which grew in
the forests of the Apennine chain, vines that presented
many similarities to the numerous varieties of Lambrusca
known today: a vine ofthe most remote, wildest origins,
whose roots are lost in the dark aeons of prehistory.
It is known that the Romans were already familiar with
the "vitis Labrusca"; however, there is evidence
that, even earlier, it was also known among the Etruscans
and the Ligurian Significantly, the written reference
to the Labrusca vine is found in the work of Virgil, the
great Latin poet and author of the Aeneid, who knew the
Po Valley area very well. More
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