SARDINIA, ITALY, JUNE 2025
If wine is a window to people, place and culture, then I have thrown the shutters open and embraced Sardinia.
Vermentino is the portal through which I grasp this rugged island, through which I taste the sun and sea.
Light-bodied, straw-coloured, super-fresh and fragrant, Vermentino positively shimmers with bright, intense aromas of grapefruit, peach, lemon, lime and every sort of melon.
On the palate, the wine is dry and cleansing: think crushed rocks, sea spray, almond flakes and a lick of honey (in a fuller-style Vermentino).
I compare Vermentino, which is typically oak-free, to a good Italian Soave or a young Semillon from the Hunter Valley, Australia. Vermentino sits somewhere between them: the taste of summer in every glass.
Each example of this classic Sardinian variety complements a thousand dishes, from grilled seafood to a slice of Pecorino cheese on a chunk of crusty bread.
It is hard to think of another wine that so perfectly encapsulates the spirit of its native home.
I travelled once through the Basque Country of northern Spain, obsessed with wines from the Txakoli region; those wines, perhaps, are one example.
There, sea breezes reach the vineyards that cling to the coastline by the Bay of Biscay. This lends to the wines of Txakoli a distinctive saline note.
Surrounded each day by sea and sky, I craved those vibrant wines.
The same is true of Vermentino.
With almost 2,000 kilometres of coastline, Sardinia sits in the Mediterranean, bathed by light and enlivened by the sea. The air itself is succulent.
I have sat by the beach, after a swim, and washed the salt from my lips with a cold, crisp Vermentino.
I have sat in the shade of a quiet cafe, sipping Vermentino to escape the midday heat.
I have paired good Vermentino with chargrilled fish and squid.
In every restaurant, in every bar, someone’s drinking Vermentino.
Find yourself a bottle. Through the window lies Sardinia.
Images from Sardinia, Italy, June 2025
This article is one among many at Travel Diary 2025
Nice one Paul! Such a picturesque read. xxx I’m inspired to purchase ‘Vermentino’. I have never heard the name before. Boccaccio Cellars Balwyn will be my first visit.