Italian Grape Variety Question....

Google is only confusing me more.
Schiava: One of the red varieties grown in Sudtirol/AltoAdige. Italy's Beaujolais supposedly.
Schiava Grossa: Said to be the same variety as Wurtemberg's Trollinger
Schiava Gentile: Can't tell what any other names for this are.
Schiava: Supposedly identical to Germany's Vernatsch

So....when they refer to Schiava in Sudtirol....which one do they really mean??

Danged Italians...why can't they just stick to Cabernet and Chardonnay like everybody else??
TomHill

Tom, Robinson's OCW3 sheds some light on the sitch (I think):

Schiava

Italian name for several undistinguished dark-skinned grape varieties known as Vernatsch by the German speakers of Alto Adige, or Südtirol as they would call it; and as trollinger in the German region of Württemberg, where they are widely grown. The name Schiava, meaning "slave", is thought by some to indicate Slavic origins.

The Schiava group is most planted in trentino-alto adige in northern Italy, where several forms were recently characterized as genetically distinct cultivars by dna profiling at Milan. The most common is Schiava Grossa (Grossvernatsch), which is extremely productive but is not associated with wines of any real character or concentration. Plantings are in decline as the lighter style of wine produced by Schiava, once highly prized by the Swiss market, has lost favour. DNA profiling showed it is a parent of Muscat Hamburg.

Schiava Gentile (Kleinvernatsch) produces better quality, aromatic wines from smaller grapes. The most celebrated, and least productive, clone is Tschaggele. Schiava-based wines in general are definitely less fashionable than a generation ago, when they enjoyed much popularity in Austria and southern Germany and, as vineyards in Trentino-Alto Adige are being replanted, it is frequently being replaced by international varieties.

Schiava grapes are found in most of the non-varietal light red wines of Trentino-Alto Adige.

Regards, Bob

PS: This entry is almost two years old now, given the editing process at Oxford; Jancis wrote a short essay on the area last spring and wrote: "But as practically everywhere else in the world, full-bodied red wine has been becoming increasingly popular even in Alto Adige. The pale workhorse grape Schiava (called Vernatsch by the region’s German speakers and Trollinger in southern Germany) is still the most planted grape in Alto Adige but it is in retreat while Lagrein, originally a speciality of the vineyards around Bolzano, is enjoying newfound fame, especially in the US where its almost overpoweringly direct fruit and sweet tannins really strike a chord."

B.

PPS: if this isn't clear, let me know -- Jancis is very generous in answering questions/comments, and if she's busy, Julia covers beautifully. B.