There are many theories about the etymology of the name Trebbiano. The "Vinum trebulanum" mentioned by Pliny the Elder is said to refer to the village of Trebulanis, today's Treglia in the province of Caserta in Campania. It is also thought to refer to the ancient town of Trebulanum in Tuscany. A third variant states that the variety is named after the river Trebbia in Liguria and a fourth that it is named after a common Trebbo or Trebbio.
According to DNA analyses, there are hardly any family relationships between the many Trebbiano varieties. It would therefore be wrong to speak of a grape variety family (the same phenomenon also applies to the four name groups Lambrusco, Malvasia, Muscat and Vernaccia). However, there are similarities in terms of whitish-yellow berry colour, grape size, frost hardiness and high yield. Some are also quite similar in flavour - rather weak in extract with a low alcohol content but strong acidity. This is why they are also used for distillation.
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