£12.99, House of Townend
You need to let this lithe, young, north Italian white open up in your glass to enjoy it at its best, so pour it out, give it a good swirl and linger over it.
You'll be rewarded with an airy, fragrant Alpine nose of wild herbs and flowers and a nimble palate that starts with fresh, grassy, soft-leaved herbs and gathers apple, quince, a touch of toasted almond and white pepper around it.
I suspect with time that what is currently toasted almond to me will turn more to hazelnut, the characteristic usually attributed to the Nosiola grape variety and from which its name is thought to derive – nocciola being Italian for hazelnut.
It's a native of Trentino's patchwork of tiny, hilly vineyards, in particular around the village of Pressano and Val di Cembra, and there's not much of it. I don't know of it being grown elsewhere, but distinctive, graceful, dry white wines such as this are increasingly sought. There's also long been a tiny production of Nosiola Vin Santo.
La Vis Nosiola is a model aperitif, but is at home with food too, especially green asparagus with butter or hazelnut dressing, risi e bisi, pasta with ricotta and peas, burrata, shellfish, including spaghetti alle vongole, fish such as lemon sole, hake, fresh anchovies, fritto misto and calamari. 12%. Empty bottle weight: 472g.
Cantina La Vis Nosiola 2022, Vigneti delle Dolomiti IGT, Italy
£12.99, House of Townend; other retailers have earlier vintages which I haven't tasted.
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