It has discreetly crossed centuries and centuries of history. A great botanist of antiquity, Pliny the Elder, who lived in the first century after Christ, in his "Naturalis Historia" speaks of its cultivation in the countryside of Tivoli and in the gardens of Pompeii and praises its qualities. With a historical leap we then arrive at 1500 when Eleonora d'Este, daughter of the great Alfonso and the infamous Lucrezia Borgia, on holiday in Tivoli with her sister Lucrezia, wrote to the Ferrara court: "In the gardens of the villa in Tivoli there is an abundance of pizzutello , which the villagers call uva corna due to its elongated shape that looks like a very small croissant. It is very tasty on the palate and holds the stomach well. There are two types of black and white because they believe it makes the eyes beautiful”. A period of oblivion follows again and in the 800th century we find news of the Pizzutella grape of Tivoli on the occasion of Pope Gregory XVI's visit to the city on 2 October 1845. The pope wanted to check how the massive works of the excavation of the tunnels were going Monte Catillo for diverting the waters of the Aniene, destined to change the course of agriculture in the area, and was welcomed into the city by a series of triumphal arches decorated with Pizzuta grapes which went from Porta Santa Croce to the bridge Gregorian. Intrigued, the Pope during the procession wanted to taste that strangely shaped grape and in tasting it he recommended its use to the population. And yet the Pizzutello of Tivoli decorated, fifty years later, a boat that paraded on the occasion of the jubilee announced by Pope Leo XIII in the 900s, a gift from the inhabitants of the town. The last public release, so to speak, of the pizzutello, was in 1908 on the occasion of the Jubilee announced by Pius X, for the 50th anniversary of his priestly ordination. This time a huge papal coat of arms was covered with corna grapes as a sign of gratitude for the great works that had brought water to the Aniene valley.
In short, the relationship between this particular grape and Tivoli is rooted in time. Even if there is someone who arrived in the Lazio city from France imported by Cardinal Ippolito d'Este in the XNUMXth century, when he built his home, Villa d'Este, in this locality not far from Rome.
But, as often happens, history is not enough to protect and develop local crops that have accompanied the life of local communities over the centuries.
Unfortunately, in Tivoli the production of this grape, with a very delicate, crunchy, savory flavor that expresses an ancient historical and cultural identity of the area, was declining not only because it is a grape quality that is difficult to grow but also because the consumerist homologation led the market to prefer grapes less tied to the territory and to a shorter productive time frame as well as more profitable from a cultural point of view, and so the whole wine-growing area, once truly extensive, then considerably reduced after the war with the division of funds, had gradually diminished from 60 cultivated hectares to 10. To this it should be added that the Pizzutello grape has also been cultivated in recent years in Latina, to remain in Lazio, but also in France, Spain and Algeria. In short, there was the risk of losing a precious testimony of biodiversity with a unique flavor precisely because it was cultivated in the Aniene valley in a climatic and territorial context typical of this area.
If its memory has been saved, it is due to a group of producers who tenaciously defended the memory of their fathers. It becomes rigorous to mention the names of the historic growers Bruna Grossi, Alvaro Proietti Modi, Franca Eletti, Gianni D'Antoni, Antonio del Priore, Giovanni Maschietti.
Then the anchor of Salvation, the Pizzutello grape became part of the Slow Food Presidia with all the image and economic benefits that this entails.
«We grow Pizzutello in the gardens, not in the vineyards», explains Bruna Grossi, contact person for the six historic producers who adhere to the Slow Food Presidium, for a total of around 25 quintals of grapes per year. In other words, it means that it is not planted in rows, but in pergolas, on which the vines cling, under which lettuce, broad beans and peas are sometimes sown. Next to them, then, there are often roses, custodians and sentinels of the grapes that color and perfume the Tiburtine gardens.
Over the decades, these characteristic pergolas have contributed to making the landscape of this corner of Lazio unique and precious: traditionally, chestnut hairpins were used as support posts, and a local herb, the so-called "chart". These are elements that today's producers continue to hand down from generation to generation, and which represent a distinctive trait of this area.
The Slow Food Presidium of the Pizzutello di Tivoli grape, on the other hand, not only celebrates the product of a fertile land, but also intends to protect the agricultural landscape and act as a further showcase for an area with an already considerable tourist vocation. "This recognition is the starting point for continuing to enhance the enormous potential we have in the Tiburtino area and in the Aniene Valley, aware that every food is also a cultural asset as well as a gastronomic one" explains Gabriella Cinelli, contact person of the Slow Food Tivoli Convivium and Valle dell'Aniene and cook of the Slow Food Alliance.
“Our aim – he adds – as volunteers in the Slow Food association is to promote a new model of experiential and sustainable tourism, “good, clean and fair”. But all this in the projection of a project that Slow Food International has launched, Slow Food Travel which can be implemented in any area that has specific characteristics. By creating jobs and increasing the number of guests who find the archaeological wonders and the good, clean and fair food of 0 km producers or of the Presidia of the territory and of Lazio in the city's restaurants. We want those who visit our city to appreciate not only its historical and artistic wonders, but also the quality of life and local products. In these years of activity we have promoted numerous local initiatives to make this product known and appreciated. Pizzutello growers participate in the Archeomercato della Terra and organize guided tours, walks, lunches and aperitifs in the gardens where this grape is grown. We also collaborate with other local associations to promote "slow" itineraries along the Aniene and cycle tourism. We have achieved the goal of having Pizzutello recognized as a Slow Food presidium but we are not stopping: among the next projects there is the valorisation of Tiburtino oil, another excellence of our territory. We are also working with the growers on the creation of products to offer Pizzutello all year round on the tables of the Tiburtini (for example with jams). An important step will be the training of young people and new generations with various initiatives, to promote a new type of tourist culture: "quality hospitality" is the new tool to make Tivoli a pole of tourist attraction for all of central Italy.
Every year, at the end of summer, Tivoli celebrates its most typical grape with the Sagra del Pizzutello. A historical tradition that has been handed down over time and which aims not only to promote the grape itself but also the one transformed into jam and its gastronomic use. The sweetness of this fruit – «that crunches», as the producer Bruna Grossi says, that is, it literally has to be bitten into for how crunchy it is – makes it excellent for many uses in the kitchen.
Precisely because of these characteristics, the Slow Food project does not stop at the threshold of a recovery of the original production and greater profitability that can attract young talent to engage in this production but also aims at safeguarding and promoting the historical reference habitat. "With the rebirth of pergolas, and in harmony with the European Landscape Convention, and with the commitment of many, much can be done". Hence the launch of a project aimed at activating "tourist, educational, archaeological routes and itineraries, in the name of sustainable tourism". The next step in which the Municipality of Tivoli is committed is to obtain the recognition foreseen by the National Association of Italian Municipalities, for the typical products, the Deco (Municipal Denomination) which can concretely relaunch the rural economy of the Aniene valley.
