Tuscan Wines
Vernaccia di San Gimignano: the white wine of medieval Tuscany
Vernaccia di San Gimignano was Italy's first DOC. Medieval history, wine characteristics and pairings with Tuscan seafood cooking.
Italy’s first DOC: a forgotten primacy
Vernaccia di San Gimignano holds a title that many do not know: it was Italy’s first controlled designation of origin. When in 1966 the President of the Republic signed the decree establishing the first Italian DOCs, Vernaccia di San Gimignano was on the list and had the number 1. This is not a matter of alphabetical order - it is recognition of its centuries-long history as a wine of a defined territory.
The history of Vernaccia in San Gimignano is documented from the Middle Ages. The Municipality of San Gimignano already had in the thirteenth century specific regulations for the production and commercialisation of local white wine - one of the first examples in the world of public regulation of wine production. Dante Alighieri cited Vernaccia in the “Purgatorio” (he cites it ironically as the favourite wine of a gluttonous pope). Michelangelo had his regular supplies from San Gimignano. It was the most famous Tuscan white wine in Europe in the Middle Ages.
Then came the decline: with the rise of Tuscan red wines in the twentieth century, Vernaccia was progressively eclipsed. The DOC primacy did not prevent many from forgetting it. Only from the 1990s onwards, through the work of some visionary producers, did Vernaccia begin to express its potential again.
San Gimignano and Vernaccia: a bond of centuries
San Gimignano is famous for its medieval towers - those fourteen surviving towers visible on the horizon before even reaching the city. But the landscape around the towers is made of vineyards - white galestro and alberese hills planted with Vernaccia vines.
The San Gimignano territory has pedoclimatic characteristics that Vernaccia has learned to exploit over centuries of adaptation. The white and calcareous soils - called bianca by the locals - poor in organic matter and well-draining, force the vine roots to dig deep in search of water and nutrients. This controlled water stress produces grapes with a concentration of aromas and a structure that more fertile soils cannot give.
San Gimignano’s microclimate has notable temperature differences between day and night in summer - the daytime heat allows sugar ripening, the cool of the night slows metabolism and preserves acidity. The result is a wine with a rare balance between freshness and structure.
Characteristics of Vernaccia: freshness and structure
Vernaccia di San Gimignano is a dry white wine with a precise and recognisable organoleptic profile.
Colour: straw yellow, with golden reflections in more mature versions or those aged in wood. The Riserva can have an intense gold.
Aroma: floral (white flowers, broom), fruity (green apple, citrus, white peach), with an almost savoury mineral note that is the sign of galestro. In more mature versions come notes of hay, almond, camomile.
Taste: fresh, with lively acidity, savoury, with a characteristic bitter finish that is the hallmark of Vernaccia. This bitter note - which can recall toasted almond or grapefruit - distinguishes Vernaccia from any other Italian white wine. The body is medium, not fatty like a barrique Chardonnay.
Persistence: medium-long. The bitter finish lingers in the mouth for a few seconds after swallowing, a sign of structure.
Vernaccia and Tuscan fish: the natural pairing
Vernaccia di San Gimignano and Tyrrhenian fish are the most natural pairing in Tuscan cuisine. It is not an association designed at a desk - it is the result of a territory that produces both the wine and the fish in the same geographical area.
With tagliolini with clams: Vernaccia in bianco is the pairing that Tuscan sommeliers indicate most often. The acidity of the wine balances the saltiness of the clams, the mineral note echoes the sea, the bitter finish cleanses the palate of the fat from the oil.
With cacciucco: caution - not all whites can stand up to cacciucco, which is a very intense dish. Vernaccia Riserva, with its greater structure, has some chance. Regular Vernaccia risks disappearing in the face of the dense red broth.
With grilled fish: sea bream, sea bass, dentice - Vernaccia is perfect. The acidic freshness of the wine behaves like lemon - it revives the flavours of the fish without covering them.
With raw seafood: oysters, swordfish carpaccio, raw red prawns - Vernaccia is one of the few Italian wines that can stand the delicacy of raw seafood without overwhelming it.
How to choose a quality Vernaccia
Not all Vernaccia di San Gimignano are equal - as with any denomination, quality varies significantly between producers.
Signs of quality: vintage declared on the label, producer with attentive viticulture (organic or biodynamic is a positive signal but not the only one), price that reflects the work (a quality Vernaccia rarely costs less than 10-12 euros).
To avoid: bottles without a vintage, too-low prices indicating industrial production, oxidised colours (amber yellow instead of straw yellow) indicating suboptimal storage or production.
Vernaccia Riserva: it exists and it is different
The Vernaccia Riserva is a distinct category, with at least eleven months of wood ageing and three months in bottle before commercialisation. Not many producers make it - it requires investment and rigorous grape selection.
The Riserva has a completely different profile from regular Vernaccia: more structured, with notes of vanilla and butter from the wood, broader body, integrated rather than cutting acidity. It is a contemplative white rather than a food wine - or one to pair with rich dishes such as cacciucco, pasta with porcini mushrooms, stuffed roast chicken.
San Gimignano is twenty kilometres from Poggibonsi - almost a home wine for Ristorante Alcide. On the wine list, Vernaccia occupies a natural place as the territorial white wine.
Want to taste it for real?
At Ristorante Alcide you will find it on the table - made the right way, with fresh ingredients and the care of the Ancillotti family since 1849.
