Sun, sea, warmth and Vermentino: here is the formula that launches the young Doc Maremma

With spring now in full swing, temperatures rising again after last week’s freezing temperatures, and the desire to go out to eat (as early as April 26th), the wish list of bottles to put on the fridge includes Vermentino, a wine that naturally looks to the sea and to summer, the production of which is historically linked to the most beautiful coastlines of the boot, facing the Mediterranean, between Sardinia and Tuscany. Especially in Maremma, where Vermentino is the main grape variety in the enological revival of the young DOC, with 832 hectares of vineyards that produce 50% of the bottles of Vermentino produced in all of Tuscany. At the top, Agricola Del Nudo Bio 2019, Azienda Guido F. Fendi Chicca 2019, Belguardo Codice V 2019, Castelprile Prelius Bio 2019, Colle Petruccio Norcias 2019, I Cavallini Diaccio 2019, Monterò Monterò Bio 2019, Tenuta Dodici Vermentino 2019, Terre dell’Etruria Marmato 2020 and Val delle Rose Litorale 2019. That is, the best labels that emerged from the “Vermentino Grand Prix”, the kermesse organized by the Consorzio dei Vini della Maremma Toscana, which crowned the ten best declinations of Vermentino, according to the jury led by Luciano Ferraro (Corriere della Sera), whose members include practically all the Michelin starred in the area, from Roberto Rossi (Ristorante Il Silene) to Davide Macaluso (Trattoria Bartolini - L’Andana), from Andrea Menichetti (Ristorante Caino) to Alessandro Rossi (Ristorante Gabbiano 3. 0), to Marianna Ciancarelli (Il Pellicano Restaurant).
“Slightly more than half of the wines presented come from the 2020 vintage and, like last year, there is no shortage of wineries offering more mature Vermentino, sometimes aged in wood, cement, amphora, and among the various labels Vermentino on its own or blended with other white grapes, up to a maximum of 15% as provided for in the production regulations”, explains the director of the Consorzio della Maremma Toscana Luca Pollini.
“The trend of last year’s edition is confirmed: 100% Vermentino wines prevailed as well as those from the previous vintage with longer aging, even though they were in the minority. The efforts that producers are making on this vine are therefore appreciated and we must continue to work with a defined direction in order to assert our Denomination thanks to its increasingly high quality,” adds Francesco Mazzei, president of the Consorzio della Maremma Toscana. “I am more and more convinced that Vermentino Maremma Toscana has what it takes not only to position itself among the great white wines of the world, but also to compete with the great red wines of Tuscany, becoming one of the major keystones of our Denomination”, says Mazzei. “It is a particularly versatile grape variety, suitable for the production of both fresh and aged wines; this - together with a still uncontaminated and very variegated territory, ranging from the coastal strip to Colline Metallifere and Monte Amiata, and to the capacity of each winemaker to exalt in the cellar the grapes of the different areas - makes it possible to have a production in continuous qualitative growth and of great appeal for the consumer, as this second edition of Vermentino Gran Prix shows us”, concludes Francesco Mazzei.