Costa Marina, aromatic herb-scented seawater (1)

While there are those in Italy who may not agree, it is not possible to comprehend wine or an appellation without taking into account its commercial history. The English know this well, beginning with Hugh Johnson who in his essential book The Story of Wine often wrote about the commercial history of a wine.

Colli di Luni and Vermentino 

Johnson’s lesson is important to understand Colli di Luni, a hilly area between Tuscany and Liguria, next to the port of La Spezia and not far from that of Livorno.

The history of this area has been documented since Ancient Roman times when Luni was a flourishing city,  the remains of which today are an important archeological site, from where local wines were shipped. According to Pliny the Elder, Colli di Luni wines were the best from Etruria. And this because they came from an area that benefitted from ample sunshine and ventilation, set between the Tyrrhenian and Ligurian Seas, an area that after Sardinia is among the best suited for Vermentino, the most widespread grape in the zone.

The exact origin of this grape is an argument still open among experts even if the consensus is that it came to Liguria from France, spreading from the Cote d’Azur to the Ligurian Riviera and all the way to upper Tuscany and Lunigiana.

According to some experts, it is a close relation to the Malvasia varieties.

Winegrowing in the area of Luni has always centered on Vermentino, considered to be the grape that best express its territorial characteristics, the hills and the sea.

The area’s winemaking vocation was consolidated in the 18th century and continued with a flourishing trade especially with those cities in rapid development. In the 19th century, farmers in Liguria met and concurred that winegrowing was their future and Vermentino was the best grape to cultivate. This also based on studies carried out by Giorgio Gallesio, who dedicated many panes to Vermentino and the wines it produced in his Pomona Italiana.

Since then cultivation of the grape expanded, above all in the hills, on terraces facing the sea.

The most important expansion of winegrowing in the area, however, took place over the past 30 years thanks to the development and consolidation of a qualified entrepreneurial movement among the younger generation. The ampelographic makeup of the vineyards has maintained its identity with a distinct predominance of grapes that are only found in the area, which aside from Vermentino includes Albarola, another white grape which has restored the original and pronounced grassy notes to the wines.

The vines remain traditionally trained and recent advancements in winegrowing, beginning 25 years ago when the area received was DOC classified, have allowed producers to better bring out the terroir’s particular characteristics and further improve overall quality.

The Vermentino grapes cultivated today derive from clones imported centuries ago that have evolved according to the local microclimates and terroirs. While the Colli di Luni wines may be less known than their Sardinian brothers, which have a higher alcoholic content and are more communicative (at least those from Gallura), they appear better at exalting the characteristics of the terroir and expressing the year they were made, plus they age better in the bottle.

These wines are distinguished by the fact that their acidity is not pronounced, the color is very lively, the aromas are more fine than intense and the mouthfeel is pleasingly tart. The aftertaste is quite particular with a distinct marine salinity and notes of aromatic herbs, which derive from the loose soil which is for the most party sandy and is well-drained.

While the general consensus is that Vermentino does not age well, our tastings raised some significant and pleasing doubts about this.

 

The Ottaviano Lambruschi estate  

The Ottaviano Lambruschi estate has always played a fundamental role in this area and appellation. It was founded in the mid-1970s when Ottaviano Lambruschi abandoned the Carrara quarries after 40 years and acquired a forest in Marciano. And while ‘going back to the land’ today is not considered to be something adventurous, back then it was thought to be pure madness. But his was a contemplated madness, born from a great passion that Ottaviano had always nurtured for farming and so as soon as he could he quit the marble business to go back to the land.

The first thing he did was to cut down the trees and plant his first vineyard, Costa Marina. Since the end of the 1980s, Ottaviano has been joined by his son Fabio who, after taking a degree in agricultural technology, introduced new technology and techniques both in the vineyard and the winery, without ever betraying tradition. Consistent care in every step of production and a careful selection of grapes have given value and a classic style to their white wine which has consistently been among the best in the region.

The vines are Guyot-trained or, where possible, single arched-cane trained and the rows alternate between those that are weeded and those where grass is allowed to grow. The vines are pruned two or three times a season, depending on the weather, the grapes are soft-pressed under controlled temperatures and the wine ages exclusively in stainless steel vats. After pressing the must is decanted for around 24 hours after which it is siphoned and fermentation begins, which can take 10-15 days. The wine is siphoned three times; the first at the end of alcoholic fermentation, the second time after some 20 days and the third time at the end of winter, when the wine is prepared for bottling in March. During these phases the wine undergoes chemical analyses and small doses of sulfur dioxide are added. Malolactic fermentation is always carefully avoided.

(Tomorrow we will publish an interview and a vertical tasting of Vermentino Costa Marina.)