L'Italo-Americano

www.italoamericano.org 36 L'Italo-Americano Diary of a Vermentino Madman T he madness. You might think it comes all at once. But, it doesn't, not really. It approaches glass by glass, quietly, step by step, like a cat in the hallway. Eventually, you feel i n c l i n e d t o e d u c a t e y o u r s e l f about the vine. And then, the need to go, to travel there, whe- rever there is. Until finally, while f l o a t i n g o n y o u r b a c k i n t h e Sardinian sea, you look up and blink into the sunshine. That's when you know. At least that's how it was for me. But, I am getting ahead of myself. To understand Vermentino issues its own special craziness. Wine literature ranges between t e l l i n g u s t h a t F a v o r i t a , f o r e x a m p l e , i s a s y n o n y m f o r V e r m e n t i n o , i s a b i o t y p e o f V e r m e n t i n o , o r a c t u a l l y i s Vermentino. Just enough ambi- guity to crack sanity's little egg. To make it even more intere- sting: many producers and some experts disagree with the litera- ture and each other. Scientific a n a l y s i s s u g g e s t s S a r d i n i a ' s Vermentino di Gallura, Liguria's Pigato and Piedmont's Favorita are Vermentino biotypes – gene- tically identical though different enough in form and behavior to be considered as separate indivi- duals of the same family. There are producers, however, some having spent years working with the vines, which remain skepti- cal. In the case of Pigato, some producers maintain it to be a distinct grape variety in its own r i g h t . W h e n i t c o m e s t o V e r m e n t i n o , o n l y o n e t h i n g seems certain: the variety makes incredibly delicious wines, some reaching a level of greatness. Oh, I almost forgot. The mad- ness. We can look together for the beginning. Was it Saturday in 2 0 0 8 s p e n t w i t h a b o t t l e o f Favorita, red potato salad with c r u m b l e d b a c o n , a n d c r u s t y French bread? What about the sweltering day in 2013 where at Burlington, Vermont Wine & Food Festival I was slain by a taste of Vermentino di Gallura? What about glasses of Ligurian Pigato washing down grilled scallops in the dog day August heat? Are those the ingredients of mad obsession? A torrid day in 2014, trave- ling by bus across Sardinia's Sulcis wine territory, I overheard a guy talk passionately about Sardinia and the beauty of his local region, Gallura. He spoke poetically about Gallura's grani- te peaks, how they are carved into curious natural shapes by wind and rain. The subzone of Vena di San Leonardo, he said, is blessed with an especially excellent microclimate, influen- ced by nearby Lake Liscia and t h e i s l a n d ' s s e c o n d h i g h e s t m o u n t a i n , M o u n t L i m b a r a . There, he said, Vermentino gra- pes thrive in the subzone's cool n i g h t s a n d h o t d a y s , s t a y i n g healthy thanks to the ever pre- sent wind that cools and cleans the air, keeping grapes dry and free of disease and pests. That conversation would be a harbinger of travel. The next year, I found myself on Sardinia's northeast coast, in Gallura, where granite hills play host to that especially profound e x p r e s s i o n o f V e r m e n t i n o k n o w n a s V e r m e n t i n o d i Gallura. I recalled the man on the bus and what he said. He was right. S i l e n t a n d m y s t e r i o u s , Gallura's granite peaks com- mand the landscape. Overseers of the primal bond between land and man, their stoniness sinks into you, permeating consciou- sness. If you stand still just long enough, you feel Gallura's wind, too, there with you, always, kee- ping the vines dry, preventing disease. On antediluvian whi- s p e r s i t c a r r i e s t h e s c e n t o f Mediterranean Sea, a deliciously salty grace note tasted in the region's wines. In stone, wind, sea, and sun, Vermentino di Gallura finds its identity. In 2017, I met the guy on the b u s - R e n a t o S p a n u – o n c e a g a i n . R e n a t o c r a f t s g r e a t Vermentino di Gallura. Along with wife Angela, Renato owns and operates the Jankara estate in Gallura's highlands, in that prestigious subzone Vena di San Leonardo. T h e e s t a t e ' s V e r m e n t i n o vines are planted on a cru locally known as Jannaca, which faces a n o t h e r c r u K a r a n a , g i v i n g birth, coincidentally, to the esta- te's unique name. The com- plexity, body, minerality and beguiling perfume of Jankara's Vermentino di Gallura Superiore translates all that is unique of Gallura terroir. Vermentino from Gallura can be more linear than Piedmont's Favorita, more structured, with deeper minerality, different still from Liguria's Pigato, which can be fatter and rounder with a creamier texture. Vermentino wines from either area can give notes of apricot, peach, apple, citrus and herb. All share a defi- ning salinity. But, those types of descrip- tions are becoming less impor- tant to me. Vermentino has become, for m e , s u n , s e a s a l t , w i n d a n d stone. Freedom. Running wild. Floating on your back in the sea, looking up at the sky. Tasting Note J a n k a r a V e r m e n t i n o d i Gallura Superiore Intense yet mellow, with an impressive range of aromas and tastes: flowers, herbs, apricots, papaya, honey, almonds, fleeting notes of fennel and mint. Rich, viscous palate, balanced and well-structured, the wine fini- shes with a pleasantly bitter grace note and delicious lick of sea salt. The Jancara estate in Gallura's highlands WINE NEWS TRENDS PROFILES JOEL MACK THURSDAY, MAY 18, 2017 Renato Spanu with his wife Angela craft great Vermentino di Gallura

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