Vermentino, success story and future of the vine linking Sardinia, Tuscany and Liguria

Vermentino is now the king of summer toasts. It is a wine and a vine, a variety that unites the coasts of Sardinia, Tuscany and Liguria in addition to being cultivated more and more in other Countries around the world, and it is destined to do much more. It is versatile from the point of view of vinification - as it gives excellent results in still and sparkling wines, which are simple products to be drunk young, and also suitable for aging - and it has a myriad of food pairing possibilities. According to some experts, this wine-variety could become the new Pinot Grigio or Prosecco in Italy, or at least very close to it. This was one of the topics discussed at the “Vermentino Show” held recently during the “Civiltà del Bere” event, “VinoVip al Forte”, in Forte dei Marmi, (and Vermentino will be the star of the WineNews online video, coming soon, ed.), including wineries such as Antinori, Argiolas, Banfi, Cà du Ferrà, Camigliano ,Carpineto, Collemassari, Fattoria di Magliano, Tenute Gregu, Guado al Melo, Cantine Lunae, Mandrarossa, Mazzei, Monteverro, Mora and Memos, Poderi di Ghiaccioforte (Barone Pizzini), Poggio al Tesoro (Allegrini), Poggio al Tufo (Tommasi), Rocca delle Macìe, Ruffino, San Marzano, Santa Margherita Wine Group, Cantina Santadi, Serego Alighieri (Masi Agricola), Siddùra, Su'entu and Surrau.
The history of Vermentino is extraordinary, as Professor Attilio Scienza (University of Milan), explained, and its present is brilliant, as Yuri Zambon (Vivai Cooperativi Rauscedo) and Luigi Bavaresco (Catholic University in Piacenza), explained. It has an excellent enological and business trade future, as Francesco Mazzei, president of the Consorzio Vini Maremma that has invested heavily in Vermentino, and the oenologist, Graziana Grassini both pointed out. “Vermentino is a historic vine that came from the West, and not from the East, like most wine grape varieties. It has many faces and many forms”, Professor Attilio Scienza, said, and “according to the writings of the French ampelographer, Victor Pulliat (who lived in the 1800s), the vine would have originated in Spain, arriving first in Corsica, and then to the Ligurian, Tuscan and French coasts. There are many different clones of Vermentino, which vary enormously in aromas as well - it is a very rich grape variety. It not only gives simple and light wines, ready to drink a few months after the harvest but also wines for aging, starting in the vineyard, and perhaps not by itself, but together with other vines such as, for instance, Verdicchio. It is a generous vine and therefore needs to be controlled as it varies considerably, based on climate and territory. It could easily become the new, major Made in Italy phenomena on International markets, like Pinot Grigio and Prosecco”. This is actually an intriguing prediction, much like the origin of the name Vermentino, which according to several hypotheses comes from fermentation, because of its pungent and spicy characteristics.
More modern characteristics have now been added, thanks also to research, Professor Luigi Bavaresco, explained. “Vermentino was one of the first vines registered in the National ampelographic register. It has many names, but only two official synonyms, Pigato and Favorita, which are identical on the DNA level, but are one in three. The only DOCG is in Sardinia, Vermentino di Gallura, while in the rest of Italy there are about thirty DOCs and various TGIs. In 2011/2012, the DNA of Vermentino was sequenced as part of a project funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, aimed at investigating 51 Italian grape varieties in depth. Vermentino is a variety that also adapts to climate change, the most current topic of discussion everywhere, as explained in the book, “Vermentino - Vineyard of Climate Change”, written by Bavaresco, together with Mario Fregoni and Pier Paolo Lorieri, together with 35 other co-authors.
The Vermentino vine, in the wake of the success of its wines, is climbing the charts and on its way to the “Top 10” of the most cultivated vines in Italy, as Yuri Zambon of Vivai Cooperativi Rauscedo, the leading wine nursery in Europe, explained. “Vermentino is now grown all over the world, clonal selection has aimed at reducing its generous productivity and its sensitivity to diseases, such as downy mildew and powdery mildew, in search of a more sparse bunch, to manage it better. There are many clones, the market moves in cycles, and we are now in a phase in which consumers prefer wines that are easier to drink; i.e., whites and sparklings, because wine is no longer just a drink at meal time, but it is also as an aperitif or after dinner drink. Looking at the Vermentino cuttings market, instead, after years of growth, there was a slight decline during the Covid health crisis, then demand has started to grow again, and Vermentino is number 12 of the most produced varieties in Italy, following such cornerstones as Glera, Primitivo, Chardonnay, Sangiovese, Pinot Grigio, Merlot, Pino Nero, Syrah, Moscato Bianco, Barbera and Sauvignon Blanc. And, as far as the future is concerned, Vermentino is one of the varieties we are studying to find pathogen-resistant varieties. We are working on 31 clones, at the moment, which come from thousands of genotypes, and will find, as soon as possible, a resistant variety that will be useful commercially and on the market”.
The strength of Vermentino, explained the oenologist, Graziana Grassini, “is its ability to give excellent results in still wines and sparkling wines, as well as giving wines designed to be drunk just a few months after the harvest, or to be more long-lasting and aged one to two years”. The numbers from the Maremma DOC Consortium led by the president, Francesco Mazzei and the director, Luca Pollini, confirm Vermentino’s success. According to the Consortium, there are 8.250 hectares cultivated with Vermentino, of which over 4.850 are in Sardinia, 1.900 in Tuscany (mainly in Maremma), 550 in Liguria, but also 564 in Sicily, which is beginning to invest in it. In addition, there are also a few hundred hectares in Piedmont, Umbria, Marche, Lazio and Puglia. France is also cultivating Vermentino and boasts 6.035 hectares in Another country where Provence, Corsica and Languedoc-Roussillon, while Vermentino is beginning to get noticed in Australia, California and other Countries as well. In Maremma, 14.119 hectoliters are produced, representing 27.7% of the wine bottled in the area. “I believe the Vermentino vine deserves much more attention”, Francesco Mazzei said, “the numbers alone prove it, so we need to work more on it. The Consortium has been working on it (the term Superiore was recently introduced to characterize the more aged wines, at least 2 years from the harvest, with lower yields and stricter procedural guidelines compared to the "base" version, ed.). It is an appealing vine, stimulating, and “simpatico” to the world, easily paired to food, penetrating everywhere, and the markets are very interested in it. In 2011 Maremma DOC was born, while the Consortium was founded in 2014, and we have 450 members of which 110 vertical, over a very large territory, and 9.000 hectares of vineyards, with Denominations such as Morellino and Montecucco. Almost all of our members had been cultivating Vermentino, so considering this and the numbers, we invested in it. We did not want to create a fad, as fads quickly pass, because it is not the Denominations that make the wines, but the wines that make the Denominations. We have invested quite a lot in quality, rewarding it with the “Vermentino Gran Prix”, which stimulates everyone to improve and stay in the “Top 10”. We also have a “Consortium” consultant dedicated to Vermentino, who goes to the wine companies, and our next project is to begin a study on the territorial characteristics of Vermentino. It is definitely the most dynamic element in Tuscan Maremma, right now. We are talking about over 2 million bottles of Maremma DOC, and there is still a large basin in the Tuscan TGI, so there is room for very significant growth. Its future is in our hands and in our expertise”.