This great white is made from one of Italy’s oldest known white grape varieties – and undoubtedly one of its best, Verdicchio. This grape originates either in the Marché region on central Italy’s east coast or it comes from the Veneto region in the north. It’s found in both regions but goes under different names in each (as Verdicchio or as Trebbiano). Those details aside, Verdicchio makes wines with intense lemon flavours, a medium to full body and lingering finish, due to its relatively high acidity. The best Verdicchio can age well for up to a decade.

Garofoli’s Podium shows another side to Italian wine; it’s a complex dry white for drinking now and can also undoubtedly age well. Try it. 

This so-called “Sardinian Sassicaia” is made by the same people who brought us the legendary Tuscan red wine. 60% Carignano, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc, 10% Merlot and 10% Syrah. This is a rich, intensely aromatic red with dark-fruit flavours and a full body. Super Sardinian anyone?

Sessantanni is a full bodied, rich red from the San Marzano region. The palate is very concentrated and juicy, with powerful tannins and complex notes of tobacco and cherry. The finish offers notes of cocoa, toffee and vanilla.

Dry, flinty, lemon scented and with a savoury edge, Verdicchio is arguably Italy's greatest white grape - and definitely its best known top white wine, even if it is does not typically tend to travel far. 

San Lorenzo is an Italian wine producer in the Marché region on the east coast of central Italy, and the producer of this superb Verdicchio from the Marché region on Central Italy's Adriatic Coast.  

Casal di Serra Verdicchio was first made in 1983 from grapes grown in the Montecarotto Vineyard. It now includes grapes from three other vineyards, all of which are fermented with natural yeasts in stainless steel tanks to preserve freshness and fruit flavours. It is then aged in tank for five months in contact with yeast lees but with no malolactic fermentation. 

Verdicchio tastes great with Seafood, the ideal match with Verdicchio, as is soft cheese.

The Marche region

The altitude vineyards and sea breezes in the warm Mediterranean Marche region both combine to create a wine with vibrant freshness and bright acidity as well as a medium to full body. Verdicchio is nearly always made as a 100% varietal dry white and also lends itself to high quality sparkling wine, thanks to its robust acidity.

The earliest written mention of the Verdicchio grape is in 1569 and it makes some of the most age worthy dry whites in all of Italy, even at relatively modest prices such as this outstanding wine from Umani Ronchi, which is now organically certified and represents one of our greatest hidden treasures on our white wine shelves.

Buy it by the case and watch its tasty flavours unfold over four to five years, potentially longer.

Commercial description

The hill overlooking Trento, with its clayey-limestone soils, welcomes the Manzoni Bianco and matures the grapes in late September. The character of the Fontanasanta vineyards is expressed through this hybrid, born of a mix of Riesling with Pinot Bianco. Its ability to evolve overtime requires patience; Fontanasanta Manzoni Bianco is a wine that really comes into its own at least three years after harvest.

Name of wine: Fontanasanta Manzoni Bianco Vigneti delle Dolomiti IGT
Grape: Manzoni Bianco
Vineyard location: Fontanasanta, Trento hills
Hectares: 5 hectares
Terroir: Calcareous clay
Fermentation and fining: Fermentation on the skins in cement tanks, followed by 7 months of aging in acacia casks
Annual production: 20.000 bottles

A great new southern Italian red made entirely from the Aglianico grape, which makes wines that are often referred to as the Nebbiolo of the south. 

This Lazio Vermentino IGT from Castello di Torre in Pietra is aged in steel tanks for about 3 months and offers a crystalline, vibrant and organic expression of the aromatic Vermentino grape.

A straw yellow colour in the glass opens with a nose of white fruit and ripe peach, broom and aromatic herbs. The palate it is full-bodied, fresh, savoury and with typically marine mineral traces.

Vinupetra : a Sicilian dialect word meaning "wine produced in stony soil." The vineyard is cultivated by hand using natural products. No biotechnology is used in the winemaking process. District: Porcaria in the municipality of Castiglione di Sicilia – Etna Nord at 580 meters above sea level. Parcel: VignaCalderara. Grape varieties: Nerello Mascalese 80%, Nerello Cappuccio 10%, Granache & Francisi 10%.

Number of screws approximately:  3,800

Land area: approximately 0.38 hectares

Density of vines per hectare: 10,000

Vine Age: Over a hundred years old, on its own rootstock, with part replanted in 2005

Vineyard cultivation: Albanello di Etna (Etna Bush Vine method) with Etna chestnut support.

Average yeild per hectare:  9,000kg

Average liters of wine produced per hectare:  6,000L

Average total number of 0.75 l bottles produced: 3,100

Harvest period: second ten days of October

Vinification: Pressing of the grapes, 30% of which with the stems. Maceration on the skins for at least 15 days in a 2500-liter wooden vat.

Yeasts: addition of native yeasts (Pied de cuve)

Duration of alcoholic fermentation: 10 days

Aging period: in 225 and 500 litre barrels for 12 months

Filtration: only during bottling

Clarification: natural decantation

Decanting during refinement number: 6

Addition of sulfur dioxide: in small doses before fermentation and bottling

Average alcohol content: 13.5%

Average total acidity grams per litre: 6.5

Average pH: 3.35

Total sulfur in freshly bottled wine (mg/l) average: 60

Bottling: in May of the second year following the harvest

First Year of Production: 2001

Hand harvested, fermented in Palmiento aged in underground amphorae. The vineyard is biodynamic and only minimal filtration takes place through a wicker basket. Ruby red color. Notes of red berry fruit, raspberry and cherry predominate on the nose. On the palate it is fresh and soft, with a well present but velvety tannin. A well balanced wine.

100% Negroamaro from Contrada Monte La Conca, between San Marzano and Francavilla Fontana. The soils here are finely textured red soils thanks to the presence of iron oxides and the vines are head-trained bush vines, grown at a density of 500 vines per hectare. The grapes are harvested manually with small baskets and experience maceration for 18 days on 80% of the mass followed by 25 days on 20%, with native yeasts selected in the vineyard. Fermentation takes place at a controlled temperature of 24-26 °C and maturation follows in French and Caucasian oak barriques for 12 months.

Deep purple red in colour with a rich and complex bouquet that shows hints of spice, soft fruit and cherry jam. The palate is full-bodied, smooth and balanced with fine tannins, and a pleasantly long finish.

Best served with red meats, game and mature cheeses.

This is a great red to drink on a cool night with its dense, dark and delicious flavours, thanks to the hot climate it comes from in Salento in the region of Puglia in southern Italy. This wine is made from Italy's Negroamaro grape, which is widely planted there around the warm southern Mediterranean.

It tastes full bodied, smooth as velvet and tastes of plush plum flavours, sweet licorice and has a dry finish.