Rocca di Frassinello farms the Maremma, the coastal strip of southern Tuscany that spent centuries as marshland before it was drained and planted. Their Vermentino comes off those warm hills and is bottled young, as the grape is meant to be: the 2023 is a dry white at 13%, medium in body, with the high acidity that keeps Vermentino upright.
- Vermentino, the grape of Sardinia and the Tuscan coast.
- Toscana IGT, a table wine appellation, not a DOC.
- 2023 vintage, from the Maremma in southern Tuscany.
- Dry, medium-bodied, high in acidity.
- 750ml, 13% alcohol.
How it is made
Vermentino is picked early to hold its acid, and the wines are normally fermented cool in stainless steel and kept there. Toscana IGT is a broad appellation, so a producer here is free to bottle a single variety like this one without the tighter rules a DOC would impose.
How it tastes
Citrus and green apple first, then the mineral, saline streak that Vermentino takes from coastal vineyards. A faint almond note sits at the back, the grape's signature bitterness. The acidity is high and the wine is dry, so it stays lean rather than soft.
Where it comes from
The Maremma runs down the Tuscan coast towards Lazio, hotter and brighter than Chianti or Montalcino inland. Vermentino is late to ripen and handles that heat well, keeping its acidity and picking up a saline edge. The grape is grown across Sardinia, Liguria and the Tuscan coast, and this is the Tuscan version of it.
Good to know
Vermentino is known as Rolle in southern France, and the two are the same grape under different names. The almond finish is not from oak. It is a compound in the grape skin itself, and it is the easiest way to pick Vermentino out of a line-up.
