Montenidoli - Some fine white wine for Summer meals...

7/2/2007 -

Until recently I had thought Vernaccia di San Gimignano was pretty dull stuff. It tasted great if you were in the neighborhood (of San Gimignano, that is), and we've always sold quite a bit to people nostalgic for their time in Tuscany, but until I met the wine from Montenidoli I would never choose it for myself. Last night we had fresh asparagus and new potatoes and Alex's flounder from the Greenwich St. farmers market and Montenidoli Vernaccia "Fiore", and it was the perfect summer supper. The wine is crisp and dry and citrusy, fairly full-bodied but with some real elegance - floral and almond notes, and great balancing acidity. I also love the slightly less expensive Vernaccia di San Gimignano, which, after a bit of aging in bottle is almost as complex, and which also shows the minerality of the Montenidoli soils.

Montenidoli is a family, hands-on operation - no ascoted Tuscan aristos paying outside enologists to make another stupid fat international wine here - this is a deeply personal endeavor, and it shows in the wines. Since 1965 they've been farming organically, harvesting by hand, fermenting with indigenous yeasts, etc etc. The result is wine with character and dramatic purity and intensity - very fine stuff.

Vernaccia Tradizionale 2005 $16.99
A long maceration on the skins - the tradizionale method - gives the wine real depth.

Vernaccia ‘Fiore' 2005 $19.99
This is made from free-run juice, and is aged on the lees. By far the best white from Tuscany we've ever had.

And don't miss the fantastic:

Rose di Canaiuolo 2006 $21.99
My favorite rose of the summer - made from Canaiuolo, an old Tuscan varietal which (if it's still in existence in a vineyard) usually gets blended in with the Sangiovese. But it turns out that Canaiuolo can make a really interesting rose - this one is very refined, with lovely delicate strawberry-like fruit and delicious stony crispness; completely dry, without any excess alcohol.