Vermentino

Vermentino is the Mediterranean coastal white, grown from Liguria down through Tuscany to Sardinia and across into Corsica and Provence. The names shift as it goes: it is pigato in Liguria, favorita in Piedmont, rolle in Provence, and all three were shown by DNA analysis to be the same variety. Its origin is most likely Spanish, reaching Italy by way of Corsica.

It likes salt air and poor stony ground and it ripens late enough to hold shape in a warm climate. The wine is dry and medium bodied, with lime, green apple, crushed herbs and almond, moderate acidity, and a bitter and slightly saline finish that is its signature. The skins carry more phenolic material than most whites, which gives it grip rather than sharpness.

Sardinia grows the most and takes it most seriously, and Vermentino di Gallura in the granite north east is the island's only DOCG. Ligurian pigato is broader and more aromatic. Provence and the Languedoc use rolle as a blending partner, often with grenache blanc or ugni blanc, and it is now planted in Australia, California and Texas for the same heat tolerance.