Italian Wine Club – March 2021

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Durin Pigato Riviera Ligure di Ponente (Sustainable) 

The grape in this crisp white wine is called Pigato in Liguria  but it’s the same grape that is known as Vermentino in Liguria and Sardinia, as Rolle in the Côte d’Azur, and as Favorita in Piemonte,  Confused?  Don’t be, welcome to the wonderful world of grape name confusion! 

Winemakers in Liguria will swear that Pigato and Vermentino are different varieties, and looking at plantings side by side, the leaves, bunch shape and grape certainly look different, but the difference is a clonal variation, sharing the same genetic material.   (Pigato is dialect for spotted, and Pigato grapes certainly have freckles!)

Having said that, both Vermentino and Pigato have a crunchy sage, rosemary and thyme essence and salinity,  with Pigato being more, aromatic, and broad, with less high-toned acidity and a trademark pleasantly bitter edge.

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Riviera Ligure di Ponente Rossese

The rare Rossese grape (known as Tibouren in nearby Provence) is much beloved and greatly respected by the tiny number of producers who work with it and understand it. The labor of love required to farm Basso’s vineyard sites results in one of the world’s most charming, saline, sea-kissed, transparent red wines.

Durin’s  Rossese is limpidly garnet  in color followed by an exotic, orchard-fruit nose of wild cherries, apricots, persimmons, lilac, and pink peppercorns. Juicy and bursting with tart cherry, fig and strawberry fruit, the wine adds notes of rhubarb, lavender, sandalwood, and cinnamon-scented potpourri. Lingering impressions of sweet cherries come to the fore on the wine’s brilliant red-fruited finish. Joyful, distinctive, and a wonderful choice for a late summer or early autumn red, enjoy Durin’s Rossese now and over the coming two years with grilled anchovies, fritto misto, pizza, dry-rubbed baby back ribs, and sautéed squashes.

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