The Verdeca Grape

(Synonyms: Albese Bianco, Albina Verde, Alvino Verde, Biancolina, Carosella, Primarulo, San Gennaro, Tivolese, Uva Marana, Verdacchio, Verde, Verdea, Verdera, Verdesca, Verdicchio Bianco, Verdicchio Femmina, Verdicchio Verde, Verdicchio Peloso, Verdichio Tirolese, Verdichio Tivolese, Verdicella, Verdigno, Verdisco, Verdisco Bianco, Verdisio Bianco, Verdolino, Verdone, and Vino Verde.)

Background

Verdeca is an ancient white-wine grape originating in the Apulia region of southern Italy. It is today still grown there, but also in the Colli Piacentini region and even on the slopes of Mt. Vesuvius. It was being used for wine well before the age of the Roman Empire.

Verdeca wines are commonly described as “rare”. One doubts that its best friends would call it a gem, even a hidden gem. If a winemaker takes care and puts some effort in, a decent or better wine can be made, but as the grape is not at all well known (so that its wines command no great price), few put in such efforts.

When they do, the result is usually described as having herbal qualities, in the best of cases with some citrus nose and flavor. (When they don’t, the result is “neutral”, for whatever that means.)

Factoid: Verdeca used to be used a great deal in the production of vermouth, but with the (highly regrettable) global falloff of interest in that delightful apéritif, even less is being grown these days.

Some Descriptions of Verdeca Wines

Wikipedia
“Verdeca on its own can produce minerally wines that tend to have a ‘flinty’ note. The grape ripens very late and even in the very warm regions of southern Italy tends to have fairly high acidity and green, vegetal notes.”
Wine Searcher.
“Its wines can range from quite neutral and herbal, through to more aromatic wines with mixed citrus flavors.”
Michael Bredahl, World’s Best Wines
“The wines here can be herbal as well as neutral, with both being equally predominant. They are also found in beautiful and utterly elegant aromatic versions with a mixture of other acidic citrus flavours…The Verdeca white wine grape variety is famous for having a “flinty” note to them. Since they are grown in the extremely warm regions of southern Italy, they are known to possess higher quantities of acidic components and have a very distinctive, yet not rare green and vegetal tones.”
Rob Tebeau, Fringe Wine
“[I]n Italy, Verdeca is definitely in decline. It was planted on nearly 20,000 acres of land in 1970, but this total [had] fallen to around 5,600 acres as of the year 2000. Most of this decline is due to the fact that many people don’t think that Verdeca is all that interesting of a grape and, furthermore, that the wines made from it are mostly neutral and forgettable. It is typically used as a blending grape not because it contributes anything particularly memorable to the blend, but rather because it can be used as filler to stretch the quantity of the blended wine. There are a handful of modern producers who are experimenting with varietal Verdeca wines, though it remains to be seen whether the grape can or will reward their attention. [Reviewing a particular bottling:] In the glass this wine was a fairly deep lemon gold color. The nose was somewhat reserved with aromas of pear, lime peel, honeysuckle and apricot that were a little difficult to tease out. On the palate the wine was on the lighter side of medium with fairly high acidity. There were flavors of pear, honeysuckle flower, lime peel and ripe apple with a touch of salinity and a strong, stony mineral finish. Verdeca is noted for its strong mineral notes, and I wonder if many tasters confuse that for neutrality, as I found this wine anything but neutral, but I can understand how minerality can be a neutral kind of taste for many. I found this wine very interesting and characterful with a distinctive saline tang that was different and refreshing.”
Especially Puglia
“It is a very neutral flavored grape and historically was most commonly used in vermouth production. Now it is typically found in blends. But don’t count Verdeca out! It’s very easy drinking and refreshing with notes of citrus, pineapple, and bergamot…Color is straw yellow with a touch of green. It has a clean minerality that’s almost flinty, with herbal and citrus notes. Due to acidity, drink young.”

Some Verdecas to Try

Verdeca is, to be honest, not a top-flight variety, so we had to slightly push our cutoff (but only slightly). Even so, there really aren’t that many decent Verdecas out there—consumer write-ups seem much kinder to the variety than those of professional critics. Anyway, this is what we found.

For a Splurge

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This page was last modified on Sunday, 7 November 2021, at 1:55 am Pacific Time.

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