Vernaccia is delicately aromatic with a bouquet of white flowers, pear and honeysuckle with a firm citrusy freshness. Vernaccia – translating to ‘vernacular’ and therefore transferring to several ‘local’ varieties in Italy, in the case producing a crisp dry white wine with hints of pear, honeysuckle and white flowers.
The palate is replete with well balanced acidity, and a clean, focused finish. This is a wine of great structure and length – a dry and savoury wine with a persistent thread of grapefruit and citron running down its centre, adding to its definition.
Vernaccia can handle most textures and fuller flavours. With young asparagus in season now, steam some fresh spears, lightly drizzle with a little good quality olive oil and then garnish with fine strips of Prosciutto, chargrilled cherry tomatoes and a lightly pan fried white fish such as Orange Roughy and a little squeeze of lemon.
From the Winery:
Established: 1990 Owners: Neil & Maria Empson Winemaker: Franco Bernabei Toscolo, an Italian renaissance word meaning Tuscan boy, is Neil and Maria Empson’s labour of love from a long-time passion for this extraordinary region. The Empsons chose friend and star oenologist Franco Bernabei to style the wines and their experience and expertise gives them access to a cross-section of Tuscany’s finest vineyards.
Toscolo Vernaccia comes from San Gimignano, the towered medieval village that is one of Tuscany’s finest gems. Perched on a hill overlooking the Val d’Elsa, its intricate lacework of ancient white stone is set against a fairy tale backdrop of deep green valleys and mountains, seemingly plucked from a Rennaissance fresco. The wine is delicately aromatic with a bouquet of white flowers, pear and honeysuckle with a firm citrussy freshness.
