It has been some time since Italy and I have been together. A pandemic, a baby, and opening two businesses will certainly keep one on the domestic front. There are so many places I want to go in this world, but when I travel in my mind, I am always immediately drawn to the Italian coast. I speak for the entire shop team, when I say we thirst for the hot winds of Sicily, the saline breezes of Corsica, the old-fashioned clubs of Liguria where pesto is beach food (I once wrote about this for Saveur). I have vowed to myself to get to an Italian beach before the year is out.
This month, our team ushers you toward the sandy vineyards of Emilia-Romagna, the volcanoes of Campania, the shores of Sardinia, and beyond. Go with them, drink these wines, be at one with the dream of a cold bottle on a hot Italian beach. —LP
Domaine Marquiliani "Gris de Marquiliani" Corsica, France 2022
Have I been to Corisca? No. Do I want to go to Corisca? Yes. Will I get past Gulf Shores this summer? No. So I shall find a wine to transport me to the eastern shore of that island near Aleria, the old Roman capital, where viticulture dates back to the Phoenicians. A paradise of blue ocean and rocky coastlines.
Domaine Marquiliani has been producing vines for hundreds of years, most recently under the stewardship of Almaric family. Daniel Almaric and his daughter, Anne work side by side in the vineyards, with Anne focusing on rosé after learning the art of olive production. Kermit Lynch has described her rosés as “drinking a cloud," and indeed this rosé gris has beautiful lift.
Made with 95% sciaccarellu (sha-kah-REL-loo) and 5% syrah directly pressed it has a light and lovely color for which vin gris—or grey wine—is named. This rosé is redolent of peach pits, citrus, and the saline breeze of its home. Give me poached shrimp, aioli, fried catfish, a big summer hat and Jackie-O sunglasses. It may be a picnic on the bayou for me but with this bottle, it may as well be Corsica. —Allison Whittinghill
Casa Setaro "Terramatta" Aglianico, Campania, Italy 2023
Sicily is dreamy. Capri is toursity. Naples is a beautiful, splendid mess.
Stop me when this sounds familiar: a port city steeped in every culture that has passed through, dripping with art and history. Cobblestoned alleyways bristling with artisans, musicians, silversmiths, scooters, and the best pizza I’ve ever had (I miss you, Pizza Sorbillo).
This is not the pastel-vibrant idyll typical of coastal Italy; it’s New Orleans, dear reader. A millennium older, in the heart of one of Italy’s most storied wine making regions, Campania.
Tucked just down the coast from Naples on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius in the town of Trecase lies Casa Setaro. Founded in 2004 by Massimo Setaro and focused on indigenous and own-rooted vines (ungrafted vines), Casa Setaro produces ethereal white wines from fiano, falanghina, and stunning cappretone. However, the jewel in the domaine’s crown is undoubtedly their old-vine aglianico.
Perched in the volcanic soils of Vesuvio, aglianico—a deep black grape—is lent bright structure woven through with the morel cherry and leather typical of the grape. Soft tannin and a savory finish make this summer red a perfect companion to grilling, humidity, and the din of our own splendid messy port town. —Drew Clowney
Mirco Mariotti "Smarazen" Emilia-Romagna, Italy NV
To set the coastal stage: We are off to Emilia-Romagna, the home of Lambrusco, a frizzante red that can range from lush and sweet to brambly and herbaceous. Many believe the lambrusco varietals to be some of the first gapes cultivated by the Etruscans and Romans. On the eastern side of Emilia-Romagna, the DOC of Bosco Eliceo is a strip of sandy dunes that stretch from the mouth of the Pò River down to Ravenna. This is a haven of pine forests and sand, humidity, and salty winds on the Adriatic sea. Laid back beach vibes pressed up against old Roman history. And with that the stage is set.
It’s safe to say that the Mariotti family has done quite a bit to lift this coastline to our awareness. Giorgio Mariotti, after founding a wine analysis and consulting agency in Ferrera in 1976 had a hand in getting Bosco Eliceo recognized as a DOC for its unique beach sand vineyards and history. His children Mirco and Barbara have carried on his legacy of stewarding their beach sand vineyards, training native rootstock with propaggine wherein a shoot from a neighboring plant is bent and buried to eventually put out its own new vine, creating an interconnected root system drawing on a deep aquifer.
The wines unsurprisingly are expressive and fascinating, translating these beach vines into bubbly time capsules of salt and sun. The Smarazen is a frizzante made of Trebbiano Ronagnolo and malvasia di candia, all fresh sea air and salty yellow apricot. A wine truly of the Italian Coast. —Cassandra Vachon
Mortellito "Cala Iancu" Sicily, Italy 2023
Under shady trees of ancient olives and heirloom almonds is Mortellito, a family farm in the province of Val di Noto in Sicily's southeast corner. Sharing latitudes with North Africa’s driest climates, it is lovingly called the desert by the sea. As the sun beats down, the ocean winds attempt to offer reprieve. Luckily grapes like frappato, nero d’ avola and grillo thrive in these conditions.
Winemaker and steward of Mortellito, Dario Serrentino embraces the historic limestone soils and notorious climate to harness maximum acid and salt. All grapes are hand harvested and see no chemical intervention. Only natural yeasts are employed. His approach to wine is personal and intentional. His mantra? “Mare e terra in vino.”
His Cala Iancu Bianco pulls from his distinct grillo vines plus a few clusters of catarratto left on the skins and co-fermented. Then off to stainless steel and malolactic fermentation. On the nose, it's sun-warmed almond. On the palate, a sea-salted grapefruit snowball with a touch of condensed milk, chalk and citrus blossom. Complex, layered and rich, it would be a great gateway for Burgundy drinker into Sicily.
As much as I like to drink coastal whites that transport me to the beach, the Cala Iancu transports me directly to the dinner table: an insalata of shaved fennel with ricotta salata, a cacio e pepe and any sturdy fish covered in caper butter and sun-dried tomatoes. A perfect marriage of mare e terra. —Beth Altenbernd
Deperu Holler "Fria" Vermentino di Gallura Superiore, Sardinia, Italy 2023
One morning a few Septembers ago, while working grape harvest in Italy, I decided to go to the sea. Armed with a just hand-drawn map, a plastic container of leftover pasta (train snack) and my swimsuit, I set off on my adventure. The train never showed up and so I got on a different (read: wrong) line, sending me on a meandering, all-day journey toward the coast. Without cell service it was hard to know where I was, but with every train transfer I made, the air got saltier: I was headed in the right direction. Deperu Holler “Fria” is the wine I wish I had when I finally got off that train.
Carlo Deperu and his wife Tatiana Holler have tended these cliffside vines since 2005, when they left Milan for Carlos’s hometown in northern Sardinia. Carlo makes wine with as little intervention as possible, farming organically and implementing regenerative solutions in the vineyard. Vermentino, Italy’s quintessential coastal white varietal, thrives in this seaside climate. Made with 100% vermentino, Fria is an ideal expression of this island paradise, all limestone roots, sunny citrus fruit, and sea breezes.
When I finally arrived at the sea that afternoon, I found a secret passage on the far side of the crowded beach. Through the passage was a big flat rock dotted with sunbathing Italians of all shapes and sizes. We took turns silently wading into the calm part of the tide, rinsing the sweat off of our bodies just to make more in the late afternoon sun. When I was done swimming I ate my cold pasta and thought to myself: does life get any better than this? If I could capture that day and put it in a bottle, it would be Fria. —Haley Adams