Discovering Vermentino

Vermentino
is Italy’s best shot for an indigenous variety that could go
international. Years ago, some journalists wagged their
fingers at producers warning them that the name “Vermentino”
could be confused for a diminutive term for “vermin”. But
the trade and the public has, either mercifully or by
chance, chosen not to go down this road. To my ear and
sensibilities, the word has a pleasantly melodic cadence and
is easy for Americans to pronounce and hence to remember.
Moreover, the variety has many other, intrinsically more
important, positive characteristics. It is easy to grow,
gives generous yields, and makes a fresh-tasting,
semi-aromatic white wine.

Today, the
variety appears in many regions of Italy: Piedmont, Liguria,
Tuscany, Umbria, Marches, Abruzzi, Apulia, Sardinia, and
Sicily. Outside of Italy, in France’s Provence region, one
finds it playing a minor role under the name Rolle. Since
much of Provence was once part of the Turin-based Savoy
Kingdom, Vermentino’s appearance there makes sense.
Vermentino is closely related, if not identical, to the
varieties Favorita in Piedmont and Pigato in Liguria. More
important than its political or appellation affiliation is
the vine’s predilection to grow near the Mediterranean
Sea.

Whether a vine
variety is indigenous or not to a certain country is really
a superficial issue. Varieties evolve and travel just like
we do. Take me for instance. Am I an American or
Italo-American? And before that where did my ancestors come
from? Returning to our vinous protagonist, Vermentino, most
experts believe that it originally came to Italy first via
Spain and then Corsica. Sometime between the 14th and 18th
centuries, Spaniards in Corsica likely introduced it into
Liguria. From there it spread south into Tuscany. Its
omission in ampelographical documents published in Sardinia
in the late 19th century, suggests that its arrival on that
island is quite recent.

Today, in terms
of volume of production, Sardinia is its most important
home. The only DOCG for the variety, Vermentino di Gallura,
is produced in northeast Sardinia. There, higher elevations
and a slightly wetter climate seem to bring out more fruit
and character in the wine. Sardinia also has an island-wide
DOC for Vermentino – Vermentino di Sardegna. Some of these
wines can match those of Gallura in quality.

Colli di Luni
sounds like it could be the name of a hit Broadway tune.
This Vermentino-dominated DOC zone straddles both Liguria
and Tuscany, with by far the bigger footprint in Liguria.
Colli di Luni is fun-to-say. I had fantasized that the name
meant, “hills of the moon”. My first disappointment was to
admit to myself that, no, grapes were not grown on hills of
the moon. My second disappointment, really the clincher, was
my discovery that 2OOO years ago, a Roman port, Luni,
existed nearby. During the 196Os, Ottaviano Lambruschi first
regularly vinified Vermentino using cold-fermentation
technology. His Vermentinos were the first to display the
vivid and refreshing fruit that is now that variety’s
calling card.

Just over the
border in the Tuscan province of Massa Carrara, Vermentino
makes up from 7O% to 8O% of the Candia dei Colli Apuani DOC
wine blend. Further to the south along the Tuscan coastline,
Vermentino has thankfully eclipsed the dull, central Tuscan
Trebbiano-Malvasia blend. Vermentino is a varietal DOC wine
in the appellations of Colline Lucchesi, Montescudaio,
Bolgheri, Val di Cornia, and Capalbio. The recent arrival of
many well-financed wine estates with international
distribution portends that Tuscan Vermentino may have the
best shot of all of going international.

Vermentino is
ideal for coastline areas because its foliage resists damage
from salt-loaded winds. It can also withstand the high
temperatures and drought conditions which characterize those
areas during July and August. The Mediterranean coast
provides vines with an extended growing season. This is a
good fit for Vermentino’s tendency to mature late, in
September and October. The “international” white varieties,
Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling, mature in August,
at a time when high heat compromises their grape acidity and
the start up of controlled cool fermentations. In this
climate, these varieties show rapid increases in berry sugar
content without a corresponding evolution of compounds in
seeds and skins. Their must weight goes high while the skins
remain thin and the seeds green. The skin contains aroma
precursors which, unlocked by yeast, become the wine’s
bouquet. Hot climate Chardonnays, Sauvignon Blancs and
Rieslings are rarely high quality wines. The heat of August
denies growers the opportunity to harvest these varieties
late. Provided that they are in good condition, grapes left
on the vine benefit from additional skin contact. Growers
can leave Vermentino on the vine longer and they can take
their time harvesting. They need less refrigeration to get
the Vermentino fermentation off coolly.

Vermentino
offers growers few problems. It offers an abundant harvest.
Frost that could compromise the germination does not occur
in coastal Mediterranean climates. Its vigor is moderate. As
a result, farmers need to spend less time shoot thinning
during May and June. Though vulnerable to peronospera, the
sunny, windy and rainless climates of the Italian
Mediterranean coast rarely exposes this vulnerability. On
the other hand, it has good resistance to oidium, the fungus
most common in dry climates.

Despite the
abundant heat and light in their environment, Vermentino
varietal wines tend to have average alcohol levels, about
12%. Though total acidities can be low, but pH remains low,
about 3.3. The low pH gives the wine a refreshing texture.
The wine can be barrel fermented, but care must be taken
when using lees contact. When the lees get reduced, the
abundance of thiols, a class of sulfur-containing compounds,
can render the wine stinky.

Vermentino wine
appearance is a pleasant yellow-green of medium intensity.
In the nose, the wine expresses lime and green hay smells.
The presence of Sauvignon Blanc grassiness and
grapefruitiness in some wines indicates that Vermentino must
may have many of the same precursor aromatic compounds as
Sauvignon Blanc. Yeast selection can preferentially release
these aromas, steering the nose more towards a Sauvignon
profile. On the other hand, the smell of Sauvignon could be
an indicator of Sauvignon Blanc in the wine. In the mouth,
the wines are substantial and rarely light. They are always
refreshingly tart, and are rarely bitter in taste. Sometimes
Vermentino wines are slightly salty. This could be the
result of the proximity to the sea. Vermentino is less able
to support new oak extraction than Chardonnay. I prefer
unoaked versions.