![]() ![]() Vibrant acid elevates a voluminous outer around a tight, grainy interior the lasting impression on the palate is of lightly salted butter. ![]() Selvadolce Rucantu 2016: Pigato, a Ligurian grape allegedly identical to vermentino, belies its cliffy, seaside origins with its rich yellow apple, custard and ski wax nose with a touch of petrol. Wafting bergamot marmalade and smoky candle wick, the luxuriantly silky palate eventually gives way to a refreshing, bitter quinine finish. Poggio al Tesoro Solosole Vermentino 2012: The pet project of the ambitious Marilisa Allegrini of Valpolicella, this Bolgheri white obliterates vermentino’s image as the sauvignon blanc of the Med. (Related: 10 of the Most Satisfying Barolos) On the palate it starts a little quiet then amplifies, with a long medicinal herb finish. Just starting to become expressive, this one is electric bright and still somewhat taut and withheld its central spear of acid is surrounded by ripples of fruit richness that never become fully fleshy, flowing from Meyer lemon to celery root and chalk dust.Ĭiro Picariello Fiano di Avellino 2016: Not yet exhibiting the toasted hazelnut character of mature fiano, this still has the dewy allure of a juicy green plum or something that dropped languorously from a tree in a tropical garden, with just a whiff of the ethereal smokiness to come. La Monacesca Verdicchio di Matelica 2015: Matelica shows verdicchio’s other side, with extremes of fierce acidity and intense ripeness and density. Its structure is upright, its acid bracing but not aggressive. ![]() This youthful version evokes white grapefruit and quartz minerals it is pristine and radiant. Jesi, the more famous, comes from a gently hilly stretch of Adriatic coast, yielding a less extreme, more pliant expression. La Staffa Verdicchio Castelli di Jesi Superiore 2017: Verdicchio, known for an energetic greenness and vivacity, comes in two distinct regional flavours. It billows over the palate revealing a bituminous nuttiness on the back, though acidity pushes it away from overt heaviness. Made principally from garganega, the plumpest of Italy’s big three, this old vine bottling (100+ years) has the lusciousness of a honey-poached pear. Gini Soave Classico Contrada Selvarenza Vecchie Vigne 2014: Never a flashy producer, Gini has been quietly growing some of northern Italy’s finest white grapes for 400 years. (Related: 4 New Ways To Indulge In The Finest Wines In Singapore) Finally, the relative simplicity of much Italian white winemaking, with minimal new oak, gives the grapes the opportunity to shine. Another is that Italy’s almost comically variable topography and geology make regional generalisations almost futile (see Sicilian whites with the delicacy of German riesling and Alpine whites oozing voluptuousness). One is the Byzantine complexity of the DOC and DOCG classification system, which sometimes elevates wines of no particular distinction and disregards brilliant ones. The reasons I keep harping on about grapes rather than regions are manifold. These grapes’ almost universal high acidity and phenolics (the white grape equivalent of tannins) give structure and tactile mouthfeel that seem austere in youth but allow the wines to evolve complex, almost indescribable aromas as the compounds interact over time. Though mass-market summer sippers are undeniably single-season wines, even great Italian whites are often drunk well before they’ve even begun to uncoil, their aromas literally locked away in so-called aromatic precursors. That storied longevity, though, may hold the key to what many of us are missing. ![]()
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