Considering the recent hypothesis about the birth of Grillo grape from a cross between Catarratto and Zibibbo, it seems possible that it is the result of one of the intersections studied and realized by Baron Antonio Mendola. The Baron was a very talented man. Owner of great fiefs he was a man of law, a man of letters, a philanthropist, a politician and above all an important ampelographer. During his life he devoted great attention to the study of agriculture and oenology reaching more than 4000 vine varieties from all over the world and he studied the phylloxera phenomenon for a long time. He was a disciple of Alexandre-Pierre Odart, Count of Tours, considered the progenitor of modern ampelography and author of the famous Ampelographie Universelle treatise. He was also in close contact with Darwin. During his work as an ampelographer he produced various crosses between vine varieties and especially between Catarratto and Zibubbo, and one of these, given the recent genetic discovery, could be the one that gave birth to the Grillo. But this is still a hypothesis that cannot be underwritten with only deductive and unscientific security.
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