TASTE: mineral bomb!! very light cider note & slightly woodsy; very dry; empty rear palate; 13.5% alc. not noticeable; Drink Now. Gut impression score: 89
Btw, if 2016 was a solid vintage in Tuscany yet their Vernaccia is “drink now” at this moment, I hope the vintage 2013 I have in my cellar is still in sound condition!
I should have made the distinction, but I still find most Vernaccia di San Gimignano that I try very generic tasting and lacking any depth or complexity. Maybe I’m trying the wrong ones.
Have you tried any with proper age? Many great wines of the world can feel quite generic and undistinguished when tasted young. Whereas generic (boring) Vernaccia tends to fade away with age, Vernaccia di San Gimignano tends to age for years really well.
No, I haven’t. I’d like to know what (other?) great wines you think can seem generic and undistinguished when young. I can’t think of any. Nowhere near the level of complexity that age will bring? Sure. But generic? I don’t know…
I am mystified by both parts of this. Great wines often don’t show much when young, but that’s not the same as ‘generic and undistinguished’. And I have found most Vernaccia di San Gimignano insipid. On the other hand the fact that there’s one great one shows it’s possible.
I’ve had tons of great wines blind that have felt rather undistinguished when tasting them too young. Pibarnon Bandol, Mastroberardino Taurasi and Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d’Abruzzo right off the bat. All of them wines I’ve had young and then several years later, showing tons of improvement. Also, many of the Cantina Terlan wines can feel anonymous soon after release and start to show their true colors only with some age.
At this point I feel compelled to mention that I have zero experience with this variety. I discovered it about a year ago, during a trip to Italy. I think we were introduced to it in Florence at lunch; afterwards I found a local wine shop and bought this Montenidoli at random — based on the comments here, looks like I lucked-into picking a good one! I was going to consume it during the trip, but it just never happened, and here we are a year later …
Indeed - although Trebbiano (aka. Trebbiano Toscano) and Trebbiano d’Abruzzo are the actual names for the varieties, whereas Trebbiano di Soave is just one of the many synonyms for Verdicchio, which isn’t related to either Trebbiano.
But agree with the part calling Suavia Massifitti fabulous - it’s consistently one of the best Verdicchios and whites from Veneto that I know! A stunning wine.