On the Road with the Grape Guy
Vernaccia San Gimignano 2017: Good Better Best
22 Feb 2017- Details
- Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy
(February 15, 2017) ... SAN GIMIGNANO - Continuing on with my “rule” of not scoring unfinished wines (aka: barrel samples), I present to you my impression of the Anteprima Vernaccia di San Gimignano:
Here in the hilltop town of San Gimignano everything is up, even when you go down it feels like you are going up (now I know what my parents meant about when they talked about going to school uphill, both ways). The grape is Vernaccia and it is white – the only true white wine region of the “Anteprima Toscana” trip and it is a region that shows great potential, especially in the 2016 vintage: the wines were fresher and livelier than I have seen in any past years and there were even some excellent already finished version that really made me stand up and take notice from the likes of Il Lebbio & Podere Le Volute (click on winery name to see full review) - if this is the wave of the future for Vernaccia I see good things coming. I can also add that producers are pretty jazzed about 2016 in general, and that is not just hype, it really shows in many of the 2016 wines I tried.
As mentioned above, I do not score unfinished wines, too much can go wrong between tank/barrel and bottle that can compromise or otherwise change the wine that I have I tried as a “sample” … At Anteprima Vernaccia I was in the same boat as I was at the Chianti Lovers tasting in Tuscany: I got to taste a lot of unfinished wines to rate for their potential for the future (there were also a number of wines that were finished and ready, or already on the market) … below I will be rating the wines on future potential on a scale of Good – Better – Best ... plus at the very bottom of the page are some fully scored finished wines. If you have read any of my takes on Vernaccia in the past you will notice the scores of the best wines this year are creeping up, and that is a good sign for this region.
Good Potential
Cantine Guidi 2016 Vernaccia di San Gimignano
Fattorie Melini 2016 Vernaccia di San Gimignano
Il Palagione 2016 Vernaccia di San Gimignano “Hydra”
La Lastra 2016 Vernaccia di San Gimignano
San Benedetto 2016 Vernaccia di San Gimignano
Better Potential
Il Colombaio di Santa Chiara 2016 Vernaccia di San Gimignano
Lucii Libanio – Casa Lucii 2016 Vernaccia di San Gimignano
Mormoraia 2016 Vernaccia di San Gimignano
Palagetto 2016 Vernaccia di San Gimignano
Tenuta La Vigne 2016 Vernaccia di San Gimignano
Best Potential
Cappella Sant’Andrea 2016 Vernaccia di San Gimignano
Scored (Finished) Wines …
Casa alle Vacche 2016 Vernaccia di San Gimignano … (***)
Casa alle Vacche 2016 Vernaccia di San Gimignano “I Macchioni” … (*** ½+)
Cesani 2016 Vernaccia di San Gimignano … (***+)
Fattoria di Pancole 2016 Vernaccia di San Gimignano … (*** ½+)
Fattoria Poggio Alloro 2016 Vernaccia di San Gimignano “Il Nicchiaio” … (*** ½+)
Il Lebbio 2016 Vernaccia di San Gimignano … (****+)
Podere Le Volute 2016 Vernaccia di San Gimignano … (****+)
Podere del Paradiso 2016 Vernaccia di San Gimignano … (*** ½+)
Tenuta Le Calcinaie 2016 Vernaccia di San Gimignano … (*** ½+)
Tollena 2016 Vernaccia di San Gimignano “Lunario” … (***+)
