Reading through my materials today, I decided to start a new section on my blog called Italian Wine Facts. Today’s factoid is about the first Italian DOC wine. I was surprised to find out that it was Vernaccia di San Gimingnano in 1966. The wine received its DOCG designation in 1993.
Vernaccia is not an easy grape. The wine is generally pretty bitter and acidic. It has to be made from 90% Vernaccia and 10% of other grapes but non-aromatic ones.
I have had many Vernaccia over the years but it has never been my favorite, until this summer when I brought a bottle of wine from Podere la Marronaia called Visla to Cape Cod. It was made with a small percentage of Chardonnay and was at least three years old if not a bit more.
I paired it with this amazing lobster and it was a dream. The slight sweetness of the wine matched that of the lobster while the bitter notes were smoothed out. I know that people don’t think of Vernaccia as a wine to age too long but I had very good success with this one. It was also made by a friend, Barbara Tamburini, but I don’t think that’s why it was better than the others. I think it was just a good wine.
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Hello! I’ve also read that Vino Nobile di Montepulciano was the first DOCG- have you found that as well?
Reblogged this on avvinare and commented:
Continuing on the Tuscan theme, I realized that I never write about and rarely drink Vernaccia, the only Tuscan DOCG wine and a standout one among the reds. I wrote this post some years ago and thought I would bring it out again. Perhaps Vernaccia will make a comeback along with other Italian whites this year.