Vermentino Reserve 2024
$ 23.00“The best vintage ever” – Luca Paschina, Winemaker
Native to the maritime growing regions of Liguria, Corsica and Sardinia, Vermentino has adapted splendidly to our warm climate in Piedmont Virginia. A spontaneously ingratiating white wine of self-proclaiming love for seafood and fish in all preparations, Vermentino’s dry but distinctly luscious minerality is complemented by generous palate weight and length, which we capture with fermentation and aging in stainless steel, under continuing lees contact of at least 7 or 8 months.
Featured profile
In recent years, with the standout success of Viognier in our terroir, we have methodically searched for other candidates for adoption among the warm climate varietals of European viticulture. Consistent success with Vermentino, whose cultivation is concentrated in the Tyrrhenian Sea regions of Liguria, coastal Tuscany, and on the islands of Corsica and Sardinia, has encouraged us to launch also the very successful limited production of Fiano, and of Falanghina, both widely grown along the coastline of Puglia on the Adriatic Sea.
Our Italian winemaker, Luca Paschina, frequently revisited the Ligurian Vermentino vineyards as he was growing up an hour away in Piemonte. There, the vines are planted on very warm, south-facing terraces. Producing large berries of thick skins, resistant to rain, in loose clusters offering natural ventilation, Vermentino ripens consistently, within a wide range of seasonal growing conditions. The Ligurian model proved very adaptable to our comparably warm Virginia Piedmont.
The grapes are fermented in stainless steel, avoiding malolactic fermentation, and the wine is aged in stainless steel only, with lees contact of no less than 7 to 8 months.
Vermentino creates a wine of medium lightness of body, strategically poised between Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay, yet with the lively middle palate of Sancerre and length recalling Chablis. Pale yellow, with tints of silvery green, it is a wine of floral brightness and inherent minerality, with traces of Pinot Grigio’s subtle salinity.
We happily admit, the immediate success of this varietal corresponded with a natural preference for a brilliantly complex dry white wine for seafood of Italian derivation. An aromatic bouillabaisse, a bowl of mussels or clams steamed in their juices with garlic and a crust of fresh bread, partner truly euphorically with Vermentino. The critical embrace of this wine has been as exuberant as the wine itself, affirming a consistency in vintage performance approached only by the finest wines, anywhere.
FOOD PAIRINGS
Chicken scaloppine in Vermentino and lemon-butter sauce
Pan-fried blue crab cakes & grilled asparagus
Sea scallop gratin in cream sauce with fresh parsley and garlic
TASTING NOTES
Full of lemon-blossom character, lychee and pear. At once juicy and elegant, delightfully dry, with some real structure, racy acidity and a long mineral finish. The first sip will make you crave for more. Drink it young or hold some for a up to 3 years.
Vinification
VINTAGE FACTORS
Cellar life 10 yrs
A unique growing season. Bud break started March 29th, earlier than average, spring brought mild temperatures and some gentle rain, and two frost nights caused minimal damage. The bloom phase was somewhat disrupted by some rains in early June which resulted in a lower fruit set generating beneficial looser clusters. The summer set in with an alternation of warm and hot days, mild and cooler nights. A pattern of lack of rain set in starting June 10th and ended August 12th when tropical depression Debbie gifted us with 1.72 “ of much appreciated rain, yet during the drought period we wisely irrigated 40 of the 170 acres of vines, specifically parcels of younger vines (3-5yrs) and a few older ones with low water retention. Meanwhile, older parcels with higher water retention adapted perfectly to the drought. The ripening proceeded very well, harvest started in early August to end on September 16th just ahead of heavy rain that protracted for 16 days. All varietals were picked at optimum and delivered very fragrant, intensely aromatic and fresh white wines. The red varietals showed deep color, rich aromas and dense elegant tannins. A textbook vintage with a combination of characters from the 2009 and 2010 vintages. Some wines from this harvest will be shown at celebratory parties for our soon to come 50th Anniversary of the Estate.
Fermentation
In stainless steel
Aging
On the lees for 7 months
Composition
Vermentino 100%
Analysis
Alcohol, 13.0%
Residual Sugars, 0.1%
Total Acidity, .60