Vermentino

Vermentino is the Mediterranean's most useful coastal white, grown around the whole north-western arc of the sea under a confusing number of names. In Provence it is Rolle, in Liguria it is Pigato, in Piedmont it is Favorita, and in Sardinia, Tuscany and Corsica it is Vermentino. DNA analysis has confirmed these are all the same variety, despite long local insistence to the contrary.

What it does consistently is hold acidity and develop a saline, herbal character in hot, dry, windy coastal conditions where most white grapes turn flat. The wine is medium-bodied with citrus, green apple and white peach, a distinct note of crushed herbs and fennel, a bitter-almond finish and a texture that is fuller and slightly more phenolic than its freshness suggests.

Sardinia treats it most seriously. Vermentino di Gallura, in the granite hills of the island's north, is Sardinia's only DOCG, and the wines there have a mineral intensity and depth quite unlike the easy coastal versions made elsewhere.

Liguria's Pigato is traditionally the richer, rounder expression, grown on terraces above the sea, and locals will argue it is a distinct grape regardless of what the DNA says.

In Provence it is a significant component of white and rosé blends, contributing structure and the herbal note that reads as garrigue.

It is an unfussy wine that rewards being drunk cold with simple grilled fish, and it does that better than almost anything else at its price.

The multiple names are a genuine practical problem when buying. Rolle in Provence, Pigato in Liguria and Favorita in Piedmont are the same variety, confirmed by DNA, though local growers in each place will tell you their version is distinct — and in fairness, decades of separate selection have produced clonal differences even if the variety is one.

Its phenolic weight is higher than most coastal whites, which gives a faintly bitter grip on the finish that people either read as character or as a flaw. It is most pronounced in Ligurian Pigato and least in the leaner Provençal Rolle.

Gallura in northern Sardinia is the only Vermentino zone with DOCG status, and the granite soils and constant wind there produce wines with a mineral intensity and a salinity that the coastal Tuscan and Provençal versions rarely match. They also age for five years or more, which most Vermentino does not.