The Vermentino Grape

(Synonyms: Favorita, Furmentin, Garbesso, Malvasia de Corse, Malvoisie à Gros Grains, Malvoisie de Corse, Malvoisie du Douro, Pigato, Rolle, Rollé, Var, Vermentino di Gallura, Vermentinu)

Background

Vermentino is a white-wine grape originating in Italy, though where exactly would now be hard to say (the island of Corsica is one candidate). As you can see above, Vermentino goes by many synonyms, but the principal ones (because nontrivial amounts of Vermentino wine are so labelled) are Pigato, Rolle, and Favorita, each long thought to be a distinct grape but now shown by DNA analysis to all be the same thing. There is also some conjecture that Vermentino may be a relative of the large Malvasia family of grape types, while others speak of relations with Hungary’s Furmint. (Some even confidentally assert that the grape came in from Spain, though there is no history or analogue there for these wines.)

Vermentino is grown today in many parts of Italy; the variety “Pigato” is found mainly in the Liguria region, while as “Favorita” it occurs in the Piedmont region. As “Rolle”, it is grown to some extent in France. It is also now grown in the New World—notably in many states of the U.S. and in Australia.

Of the many locales in which it is grown, it is the isle of Sardinia whose Vermentino wines arguably lead the pack in esteem, most especially wines from the DOCG area Vermentino di Gallura (which includes the Vermentino di Gallura Superiore DOCG).

The wines Vermentino makes are noted for aromas and flavors of citrus and tree fruit plus minerality; the wines have a relatively low alcohol content, a medium body, and distinct acidity; some are vinified for crispness, but others can achieve substantial complexity and a sense of richness. It is one of those whites whose nose initially suggests an off-dry wine, but there is typically no residual sugar in Vermentinos. (Though in some regions it is vinified as a specialty sweet wine, Cinque Terre Sciacchetra.) The wines are normally made unoaked.

As eminent wine writer Jancis Robinson puts it, “Body, acid, and perfume are its hallmarks, a good combination.” Vermentino is often said to be a good vehicle for manifesting terroir, that elusive quality—or set of qualities—deriving from the exact spot where it is grown. The wine is not noted for aging potential, and so is best drunk young, perhaps within a year or two after the vintage date.

Factoid: Despite near-universal recommendations to drink Vermentino young, some bottlings can, after a few years, acquire a sort of pine-y or resinous quality that some find atrtractive (though others do not).

Some Descriptions of Vermentino Wines

Wine Searcher
“Vermentino wines, Pigato wines, Favorita wines and Rolle wines have a lot in common, most obviously their refreshing acidity and attractive aromas of peach, lemon peel, dried herbs and a whiff of saline minerality.”
Jancis Robinson
“In his presentation at [November 2011’s] WineFuture conference in Hong Kong, British wine writer Steven Spurrier was asked to nominate the grape variety of the future and chose the Italian light-skinned Vermentino. While I have never had a truly great, long-aged example, I can quite see the appeal of young Vermentinos, virtually all of which exhibit the racy, citrus, often mineral and sometimes marine character of refreshing dry wine, usually unoaked and moderate in alcohol. This is a quintessentially Mediterranean grape variety, retaining its acidity well even in relatively warm regions. It is the dominant white wine grape of Sardinia and Corsica and generally straddles France and Italy…”
Eric Asimov, The New York Times
“[I]t has much to offer, whether as a crisp, tangy accompaniment to seafood—fritto misto would be ideal—or as a richer, more complex wine with a distinctively oily sort of texture…Vermentinos are generally made to be consumed while they still retain their youthful vitality, that is, in the year or two after the vintage. Yet, interesting things can happen with a couple of years of bottle age…The wine panel confirmed that vermentino has much to offer, whether as a crisp, tangy accompaniment to seafood—fritto misto would be ideal—or as a richer, more complex wine with a distinctively oily sort of texture.”
Italianicious
“Think citrus freshness, limes, preserved lemon, green apple, peaches and racy acidity, combined with a robust structure, sometimes a salty tang, with a lovely mouth filling fruitiness and a bitter almond finish that is typically Italian. Varietal Vermentino can be big, ripe and full flavoured or leaner and crisper in style. It doesn’t need aging and has personality and texture when young…In Sardinia it is often picked early to retain those acid levels, sometimes at the expense of flavour and richness, or left on the vine to produce a higher alcohol wine. But, whatever the stylistic choices of the producer, it offers an appealing alternative to Pinot Gris or Sauvignon Blanc for perfect summer drinking.”
Tablas Creek Winery
“Although it is currently grown in several countries around the Mediterranean, its best known examples come from northern Italy (particularly in the region of Liguria) and the island of Sardinia, where the wines are crisp, citrusy and generally unoaked. It is also the most widely planted white grape on the island of Corsica, where high altitude and hot climate vineyards produce more full-bodied wines with heady floral aromas. On the French mainland (where the grape is known as Rolle), it is found in Côtes de Provence and, increasingly, in Languedoc.”
Uvaggio Winery
“[S]ubtle floral and fruity aromatics, with an effusive flavor profile hinting at sweet but devoid of any residual sugar.”
Lettie Teague, Wall Street Journal
“[This] bright, zippy white gets my vote as the most Mediterranean wine in the world…In fact, affordability is one of Vermentino’s great charms…At the end of my tasting, I couldn’t help wondering why Vermentino was still so obscure. It’s not only delicious and accessible but also reasonably priced and easy to pronounce. Its bright acidity and citrusy flavors were perfect for summer.”
Olly Smith, Mail Online
“Vermentino is a dazzling white grape with bright flavours that shine – and with prices on something of a charm offensive, there’s a chance it may match the runaway success of Pinot Grigio…Vermentino always lurks behind Pinot Grigio, but in its own right it’s a gently aromatic white that can be as scented as lemon blossom and as bracing as the sea breeze. If you’re already a fan of unoaked fresh Italian whites, it should rule your shopping list.”
Jon Bonné, SFGate
“As white grapes go, it never seems to lose its character. It is sunny yet almost never flabby, fresh but not bony. It thrives in the heat…All this underscores its chief virtue: It has the verdant aspect so key to white wine, yet it doesn’t fall down the Sauvignon Blanc rabbit hole. At its best, it can trump a wine like Soave in depth, with aspects of resin, herbs and something slightly evergreen. (If you were preparing your violin bow in an orchard in spring, you might get a sense of what it tastes like.) Hence the Ligurians adore it for their seafood and pesto, and the Sardinians and Corsicans for their heartier fare.”
Wine Geeks
“Vermentino is a very aromatic varietal combining notes of citrus, fresh grass, herbs, and almonds with a crisp and acidic framework.”
Loren Sonkin, Into Wine
“Look for wines that are light yellow gold in color. They have crisp steely mineral notes with nice citrus (lemon) flavors. So how are these wines different from the Vermentinos I recommended from Sardinia last May? The Ligurian take on these wines has more elegance and more refinement. They are more delicate in style with more perfumed aromas. At the same time, they have a bit more acidity, more zip in the step. Both are good, but perhaps these are better at the table.”

Some Vermentinos to Try

When shopping for Vermentino or any of its namesakes, be wary of vintage years: not a few retailers who seem to offer remarkable bargain prices are selling three-, four-, even five-year old bottles. That is not A Good Thing. We recommend avoiding bottlings more than two years old; such wines may be perfectly palatable, but the market discounts them heavily, which is suggestive.

For a Splurge

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This page was last modified on Saturday, 30 October 2021, at 11:26 pm Pacific Time.

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