Vermentino Reserve 2022
$ 23.00Native 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 5 yrs
Another challenging season which started with very early budbreak in late March, followed by a 3 night of frost which impacted and reduced the yield in the early budding Chardonnay and Nebbiolo by 20%, three more frosty nights in April did not cause further damage and the season normalized in early May inducing ideal bloom conditions for the clusters. Above average precipitation in June until early August made us a bit jittery, yet hopeful, and finally we started receiving some periods of sunshine, harvest started on August 21st on white varietals with good to very good quality especially on grapes picked in early September. Stellar-solar weather in the first 4 weeks of September gifted us with an opportunity to pick good to excellent fruit according to varietal and vineyard block combination. Another Octagon Vintage from Merlot Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, no Cabernet Sauvignon.
Fermentation
In stainless steel
Aging
On the lees for 7 months
Composition
Vermentino 100%
Analysis
Alcohol, 13.0%
Residual Sugars, 0.1%
Total Acidity, .62