It’s not just sea air that lends character to coastal wines—it’s what grows on those coastlines alongside the vines. In the hot, dry climates of the Mediterranean Basin and beyond, there are many names for scrub-brush: In France, it’s garrigue; in California, chaparral; and in Italy, it’s mácchia. It’s thorny shrubs, bushes, and trees like myrtle, rosemary, juniper, and pine, whose aromatic oils are carried by breezes into nearby vineyards.

Italy’s Mediterranean coast is a trove of mácchia-scented whites, and right where Tuscany meets Liguria is the Colli di Luni region—one of many places along the coast and on the islands of Sardinia and Corsica that Vermentino (a.k.a. Rolle) thrives. This is one of the most “Mediterranean” whites of them all, evocatively scented with notes of mint, sage, and other fragrant shrubbery that grows near the sea.

Ivan Giuliani’s winery and vineyards in the Colli di Luni are in Fosdinovo, in the foothills of the Apuan Alps right on the Tuscany/Liguria border. He has also established a partnership in the nearby Cinque Terre region, so crisp, sea-kissed whites are his main preoccupation. The vineyards range from 50-450 meters in altitude and face the Mediterranean.

This wine is medium yellow-gold with flecks of green, with fresh aromas of yellow peach, green mango and melon, mint, eucalyptus, sea salt, and herbs. Medium-plus in body, showing great palate persistence and mouth-watering acidity.