Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Vernaccia : A Dry Italian White Worth Noticing

Hello All,
As we approach the warm months of summer, it only stands to reason that wine lovers will begin looking towards whites to accompany the lighter meals of the season. One such white wine worth looking into is Vernaccia from Tuscany. I recently picked up a bottle of 2006 Vernaccia Di San Gimignano, from Le Rote winery/vinard. I was again pleasantly surprised that this $10.98 bottle of wine was quite interesting and delicious. This wine is a DOCG or super Tuscan and is made up of the Vernaccia grape. It should be noted that DOCG guidelines do allow for this wine to be made up of 10% Chardonnay. When I popped the bottle and poured I noticed a natural effervescence in a wine of light yellow color. It contained quite an interesting nose of sweet lemon/lime with a slight hint of pear. Such an ordor would normally prepare one for a wine sweet as candy, but the surprise happens once it hits your pallet. There was just a hint of sweetness at the onset which quickly dries out. The mid pallet is bitter but slowly fades into a slight lingering taste of vanilla( could be that 10% Chardonnay coming through...who knows). If there is a noticeable flaw it is that the bitterness lasts a bit too long on the mid pallet. But, it is a minor flaw that I can certainly live with. I would rank this a 3.5 on our 4 scale. A winner in my book and I can definitely see myself going out of my way to buy a few more bottles for the summer 3 day weekends. Check it out of if you can.

1 comment:

Jon-Paul said...

It's a good idea to start sizing up the Whites, regardless of origin, as we head into the warmer months--I'm glad to hear that a solid 3.5 is available at such a reasonable price point! Great post, Ant!