SommSelect Editorial Director David Lynch champions white wines from the Vermentino grape, and especially those from Sardinia and Corsica. This hardy variety is perfectly suited to arid, Mediterranean climates and makes wines that are pitch-perfect expressions of place.
I try to avoid using expressions like “If it grows together, it goes together,” but in this instance, it’s impossible to smell and taste this Sardinian white without immediately thinking of the fragrant scrub-brush of the Mediterranean. The Italian word for it is macchia, and in Sardinia it’s a defining element of the landscape. In France they call it garrigue. In Spain, matorral. No matter the name, it’s a riot of hardy, aromatic greenery: wild sage, fennel, lavender, thyme, etc. When Sardinians make their classic porceddu (suckling pig), they stuff it will all these herbs and spit-roast it over fires fueled with myrtle and juniper twigs. And when you drink a Vermentino di Sardegna, you’re drinking a wine from vineyards surrounded by both the macchia and the sea, and those grapes are picking up aromas and flavors from air and soil alike. Vermentino, for me, is one of wine’s great communicators of terroir, and the Sardinian versions speak with an especially powerful voice. This is a very memorable, substantial white wine for $20, hinting most readily at the oily, herbal whites of Provence (where Vermentino, a.k.a. Rolle is also grown) but also at Spanish Albariño. It’s a must-try, especially if seafood is on the menu.
Cantine Pala is a relatively small, family-run property on an island dominated by regional cooperatives. It was founded in the 1950s and is now run by third-generation proprietor Mario Pala, whose vineyard holdings extend across a broad area: some plots surround the winery in Serdiana, at the southern end of the island near its capital, Cagliari, while others hug the western coast near Oristano. The vineyard source for this “Fiori” Vermentino is named “Is Crabilis” and is located in the village of Ussana; soils are clay and limestone with some sand, with altitudes reaching to about 250 meters.
Vermentino, like the macchia growing alongside it, thrives in limestone and in hot, dry climates. We tend to think of white varieties as needing cooler weather to remain lifted and aromatic, but Vermentino proves otherwise; in terms of climate, Sardinia is perhaps better characterized as a mini-continent than an island, as some inland areas have more ‘continental’ conditions, but the typical growing season for Vermentino is very hot and very dry—Sardinian versions are typically more concentrated, even a little oily, in comparison to examples from coastal Tuscany and Liguria, where the variety also thrives.
The 2016 “Fiori” is a pure, straightforward expression of Sardinian Vermentino, fermented and aged in tank and full of floral, herbal aromas and flavors. In the glass, it’s a pale straw-gold with hints of green at the rim (I’m being suggestive, but Vermentino always feels very verdant and green to me). The aromas are of wildflower honey, white peach, green apple, assorted green herbs (thyme, mint, sage) and citrus rind, sensations that carry through to the medium-bodied palate. There’s more here than just light and zippy refreshment—the mid-palate is juicy and satisfying, with nice balancing acidity, and the finish brings hints of sea-spray salinity. One of the first food products I think of when I think of Sardinia is
bottarga di muggine—cured mullet roe—which some people refer to as “poor man’s caviar.” This stuff, grated over pasta, is the essence of the Mediterranean Sea—salty and pungent in much the same way as this wine. The lemony, bottarga-topped spaghetti in the attached recipe is just begging for this Pala Vermentino and a sunny, late-summer evening. Let’s make it happen!
— D.L.
