From Capichera, on the granite hills of Gallura in northern Sardegna, comes a Vermentino grown at the top of the island's appellation. Vign'Angena is the estate's steel-tank wine: no oak, no lees stirring, nothing between the grape and the glass but temperature control.
- Vermentino di Gallura DOCG, Sardegna's only DOCG.
- 2022 vintage, 14% alcohol.
- Vinified exclusively in steel tanks.
- Dry, medium body, high acidity.
- 750ml.
How it is made
Fermentation and ageing both happen in stainless steel, which keeps the wine away from oxygen and wood. The point is to hold onto the grape's aromatics and its natural acidity rather than soften them. It is a deliberate choice in a region where Vermentino can carry a lot of flavour on its own.
How it tastes
Citrus and white peach on the nose, with green almond and a saline, mineral streak running through it. The acidity is high and the body medium, so it stays lean rather than round. That saline note is not an accident of winemaking: Gallura's soils are decomposed granite, poor and free-draining, and the vineyards sit close enough to the sea that the wind carries salt onto the fruit.
Where it comes from
Gallura is the northeastern corner of Sardegna, a granite plateau of low hills and scrub, cooler and windier than the rest of the island. Vermentino di Gallura was the first Sardinian wine to be granted DOCG status, in 1996, and the rules are strict about where the grapes can be grown and how much can be produced per hectare.
Good to know
Vermentino is the same grape known in Liguria as Pigato and in Provence as Rolle, but it is in Sardegna that it reaches its highest expression. The Gallura DOCG requires at least 95% Vermentino, and the wines must be made from grapes grown entirely within the zone's defined granite hills.
