From: Todi, Umbria, Italy
Varietal: Grechetto di Todi
Tasting Notes: Aromas of lime, pink grapefruit, green apple, and jasmine waft from the glass when you give it a swirl. On the palate, flavors of lime, meyer lemon, almond, and white peach culminate in a sip that leaves you with a feeling of lip-smacking freshness.
Pairing: The fresh crab, tender melon, and tangy ginger-mint dressing in Alice Hart’s NYT recipe for Crab and Cantaloupe Salad with Ginger and Mint Dressing will pair seamlessly with this wine.
Cantina Roccafiore farms 15 hectares (almost 40 acres) of vineyards in the rolling hills of the Umbrian countryside near the town of Todi. The Baccarelli family (father and son) bought the property in 1999, planted the local Grechetto and Sangiovese along with small parcels of Moscato Giallo, Sagrantino, and Montepulciano, and made their first vintage in 2005. Formerly in the energy business, they kept a mind toward sustainability from the beginning, building a renewable facility, using organic fuels for their tractors, and farming organically. Young Luca Baccarelli feels that this form of cultivation makes for soils richer in organic materials, fewer vine diseases, and healthier grapes.
Famous for big red wines, Umbria is not the Italian region we think of when it comes to crisp white wines, but Roccafiore’s Grechetto vineyards are located near the Colli Martani (Martani hills), which funnel a cold wind through the vineyards in the afternoon to provide good ventilation and a vital cooling effect.
