A question of vermentino: Jeni Port looks at the grape's various expressions from Sardinia to Australia

“Mineral or fruity?”

Ordering a glass of vermentino in Sardinia will raise a question about style from your sommelier.

Mineral? Expect saline, rockpool characters generally found in the northern, mountainous and cooler parts of the island also close to the sea.

Fruity? You’re talking citrussy flavours that mostly hail from across the island, including the milder south.

The leading white grape of Sardinia can offer a world of flavour, from the easy-going and well-priced to the serious – not to mention, seriously priced – and complex.

In Australia, we don’t tend to view vermentino in quite the same way. Here, it is principally chosen for its ability to maintain good acidity in dry, warm conditions, and its thick skins means it is largely disease resistant. It regularly features in warm, inland regions where the grape is mostly celebrated for its strong “fruity” and approachable appeal, but in the hands of true believers, the bar can be raised.

Vermentino grapes in Sardinia.

In Sardinia, if you wish to see what heights vermentino is capable of, you reach for a wine made in Gallura, the island’s only DOCG appellation covering around 1500 hectares of vineyards planted mostly at high altitude on granite soils. 

The Gallura region lies in the northeastern corner of the island, and while Vermentino di Gallura comes in many forms, from sparkling to dry, and late-harvest to a dessert passito made from dried grapes, it is the Superiore that makes the pulse quicken. Superiore must reach a minimum alcohol by volume of 13 per cent rather than the usual 12 per cent, and with its depth and concentration of fruit, its combination of lifted florals, stony mineral intensity, bitter almond savouriness and acid edge, it offers something truly memorable. 

Minerality helps define top vermentino, with vineyard proximity to the Mediterranean sea said to play an important role. In Australia, an increasing number of winemakers are looking to the role coastal influence can play in their vermentino. 

It was a guiding consideration in the decision to plant vermentino at Oliver’s Taranga in McLaren Vale. “Thinking about the coastal nature of Sardinia and how coastal McLaren Vale is (to the Gulf of St. Vincent) made sense,” says winemaker and director Corrina Wright.

Winemaking wise, she admits she doesn’t do “anything too special,” but does embrace some oxidative handling, cool natural ferment on full lees, and leaves the wine on its lees for around two months to build a “little” texture. “What I really love about [vermentino] is the natural oyster shell, seaside herb, sea breeze type of character,” she enthuses. “I can open a bottle and no matter where I am in the world, I am taken to the seaside.”

Corrina Wright, winemaker and director at Oliver's Taranga in McLaren Vale.

The other side of the Sardinian vermentino coin is all about immediate drinkability, with citrus and apple characters at the fore, always accompanied by lively acidity.

The island’s southwestern coastal region of Sulcis explores the zippy style very well, while also producing wines of prized minerality. Cantina Santadi, a large co-op with more than 200 growers on board, is based in the region and lays claim to being the biggest producer of vermentino on the island, with 4700ha of the grape under vine – the majority bush vines. The company says it looks to “elegance” as its winemaking guide with the grape. 

A methode traditionelle vermentino – Solais – sees 36 months ageing on lees before release, and offers eye-opening punchy acidity matched to dusty citrus blossom aromatics, with ruby grapefruit and a super tangy lemon zestiness. Acidity is a key factor in the co-op’s Villa Solais vermentino, matched to lifted white floral aromatics with apple and pear characters ahead of a smooth textural flow. Salinity, with an intense minerality kicking in, stars in Santadi’s Cala Silente.

While vermentino is also grown in Liguria, Corsica, Piedmont and Tuscany – even in the Languedoc where it is known as rolle – it is probably more closely associated with Sardinia, due in part – according to some Sardinian producers – to their championing of the favorita clone. Genetic research reveals this to be a tricky area, with favorita enjoying the same DNA profile as vermentino and other grapes championed as clones, such as pigato (in Liguria) and rolle, but researchers also point out that they aren’t necessarily 100 per cent identical. With time, individual traits have arisen.

Chalmers' importation of the VCR 1 clone from Tuscany in 2015 helped secure vermentino's widespread adoption.

Vermentino has been available in Australia since 1974 but it was the importation of clone VCR 1 (selected in the Grosetto region of Tuscany) in 2015 by Chalmers Nursery, Merbein, that really helped secure the widespread adoption of the grape across the country. It has since been joined by VCR 367 sourced from Liguria. According to the Chalmers family, clone VCR 1 is best suited to fruity, delicate wines intended for early drinking, while clone VCR367 boasts higher natural acidity, is suited to more structured wines, can adapt to barrel ageing and, while it’s early days, appears to be more aromatic. The Chalmers family see such clonal diversity as exciting for the grape and its future in this country.

Where will vermentino find its most suitable forever home/s in Australia?

The jury is out. But for my money, I regularly get excited by the releases from makers in regions across Victoria and South Australia which often look to the mineral rather than the merely fruity – names like: Billy Button, Box Grove, Chalmers, Koerner, Munari, Oliver’s Taranga, Ricca Terra, and Willem Kurt.

Maybe the answer lies somewhere there.

Expand your knowledge with Halliday Wine Academy

Halliday Wine Academy offers an in-depth view of the Australian and international wine landscapes. Select Introduction to Wine to learn about Australian wine and regions or choose from one of our Wines of the World courses to get to know international wines.

Wines of the World: Europe explores the iconic wines, regions and laws of France, Spain, Portugal, Hungary, Germany and Austria, while Wines of the World: Europe and Beyond delves deeper into Italy, Greece, the Americas, South Africa and New Zealand.