Each Friday, David Brenner of Villasfor2 in Abruzzo selects a delicious, top-value 'Everyday Italian Wine' for you to enjoy at home - or on your Abruzzo vacation !

Vermentino di Sardegna. 2007. Sella & Mosca

There'll be times when you'll thoughtfully sip a glass of white wine, enchanted by the way the sunlight picks out shimmering hints of green and pale gold; admiring the little nuances of taste that dance across your tongue; and appreciating the delicate subtleties of the bouquet wafting past your nose while something melodious by Bach tinkles agreeably in the background.

There'll also be times - and the very height of summer is one of them - when you'll want a white wine to drink by the tumbler and to hell with the niceties. Cold, tart, refreshing, thirst-quenching and not too strong. This is that wine. 

Vermentino is the white wine of Sardinia. This everyday example comes from the excellent Sella & Mosca winery at the southern end of the island and is made specifically to drink as young and fresh as possible. The year after picking - it's ready and at its best. Two years after picking - it's past it.

This is an instantly likeable, trouble-free wine that you can happily drink on its own or with any summer food - though it'd go especially well with a crisply-battered fritto misto or maybe a plate of char-grilled prawns and a big bowl of garlicy mayonnaise. Or just put a couple of bottles - really cold - alongside a good selection of antipasti. Perfection.

Don't fall for the idea that good wine needs to be complex. This Vermentino is as simple as it gets. Just loads of delicious pure, tangy fruit in perfect balance that lends itself irresistibly to being contentedly slurped. But such perfection doesn't come easy and I give the winery all due credit for lavishing as much of their care and skill in its production as they would on a bottle costing three times the price. For well under €4 a bottle, this is as good and honest a white wine as you'll find in Italy. No airs and graces. But no vices either.

At A Glance…

• This week's featured wine: Vermentino di Sardegna
• Vintage: 2007
• Producer: Sella & Mosca
• Designation: DOC
• Grape: 100% Vermentino
• Strength: 12%
• Closure: Cork
• This bottle cost: €3.75

Sella & Mosca
A winery website - and winelist - that are both models of their kind and which will repay careful browsing. In addition to this everyday Vermentino, you'll also find a flagship Vermentino di Gallura DOCG - and even a vermentino sparkler ! Reds are very fine, with examples featuring cabernet sauvignon and carignan, but for me the standout here is the powerful Cannonau Riserva, mellowed by at least two years in wood. At the other end of the scale, there's an irresistible 'Rubicante Novello' cannonau and sangiovese blend, only 11.5% and made to be quaffed between its release in November until stocks are exhausted - generally by the following spring ! 

Click on the pictures in the text for larger images - and if you like Italian wine, why not check out last week's 'Everyday Italian Wine' and bookmark this site for future Friday posts.

Next Week: During your Villasfor2 Abruzzo vacation you'll probably sample Italy's famous limoncello lemon liqueur.  Back home, you can buy it - or make your own. Find out how - it's very easy, very quick: and very, very delicious ! 

Abruzzo vacation, Everyday Italian Wine, Sella & Mosca, Vermentino di Sardegna, Villasfor2

This entry was posted on Friday, August 1st, 2008 at 10:08 am and is filed under David's 'Everyday Italian Wine', Eating and Drinking, Vineyards. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.