What are your top italian whites ?

[Laurent_Gibet]

What are your best experiences, able to challenge the best white expressions in the world (dry or sweet) ?

I’m interested that people have listed arneis. A good one can be quite interesting, but there are so many diluted, boring ones. Even the best I don’t see it answering to Laurent’s description. Maybe people read “your top Italian wines” to mean the ones they drink most often.

John,

For me, Valentini Trebbiano d’Abruzzo 2007 can reach the summit …
Some sweet and fortified too.

[Andrew_A_r_n_t_f_i_e_l_d]

• Tenuta delle Terre Nere Etna Bianco Santo Spirito - the single vineyard bottling
• Bruno Giacosa Roero Arneis
• Giuseppe Quintarelli Bianco Secco Cà del Merlo
• Jermann Vintage Tunina
• Valentini Trebbiano d’Abruzzo

Speaking of Italian whites, my biggest wine folly was buying a bunch of the Fiorano (Boncompagni Ludovisi) Malvasia di Candia after reading Asimov’s article about it. A few bottles were interesting in an “orange wine” kind of way, but most of them were bilge water.

[Otto_Forsberg]

What are your best experiences, able to challenge the best white expressions in the world (dry or sweet) ?

I’m interested that people have listed arneis. A good one can be quite interesting, but there are so many diluted, boring ones. Even the best I don’t see it answering to Laurent’s description.

Me too. I’ve tasted numerous examples of Arneis, but while the best ones can be mighty good, most of them are just nice and inconspicuous little sippers. The same applies to Ribolla Gialla, although the overall level seems to be a bit better and the best examples tend to be better than the best Arneis wines.

Timorasso, on the other hand, never seems to fail. I’ve tasted a good handful of them and not a single one has been less than brilliant. Walter Massa’s and Claudio Mariotto’s single vineyard Timorassos are simply outstanding.

All in all, I’ve tasted tons and tons of Italian whites and most of them tend to be quite uninteresting and overtly simple stuff. However, the best ones can really blow your socks off. Along with those aforementioned Timorassos, my favorites are:

• Radikon “whites” (or orange wines)
• Borgo del Tiglio Malvasia Istrana
• Colonnara Cuprese Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Riserva (probably not that interesting while young, but extraordinary after 20 years)
• Cantina Terlan Pinot Bianco Vorberg Riserva
• Fattoria San Lorenzo Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Riserva Vigna delle Oche
• Joaquin dall’ Isola
• Bibi Graetz Cicala del Giglio
• Suavia Massifitti
• Skerk Vitovska
• Elisabetta Foradori Nosiola
• Sartarelli Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Superiore Balciana
• Lis Fadis Sbilf Friulano
• Ettore Germano Nascetta

I haven’t tasted Valentini’s Trebbiano, but knowing his Cerasuolos and Montepulcianos, I believe they are nothing short of stunning.

• Nals-Margreid Pinot Bianco Sirmian

[Laurent_Gibet]

Thank you for your list, Otto,

Valentini reds and rosés are stunning …

I remember a good Etna bianco I Vigneri Vinujancu 2011 (Carricante, Riesling rhénan franc de pieds, Grecanico, Minella)

For whites, let’s not forget maceration (orange) wines : Radikon, Foradori Nosiola, Cornelissen (Etna), …

Some years ago, very low ratings for these wines :
Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi - Sartarelli “Vigneti Tralivio Classico Superiore” 2006
Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi - Sartarelli “Vigneti Balciana Classico Superiore” 2007
Verdicchio Dei Castelli Di Jesi – Fazi Battaglia « San Sisto » 2000

[Laurent_Gibet]

Andrew,

Never tasted this Quintarelli’s white (Garganega, Trebbiano Toscano, Sauvignon Bianco, Chardonnay and Saorin)

[Kris_Patten]

Bucci Verdicchio
Antinori Guado al Tasso Vermentino
Jermann Vintage Tunina
Pieropan Calvarino
Donnafugata Zibbibo

Some interesting wines I haven’t had listed throughout, that I will have to look for.

Thanks for sharing.

[John_Morris]

• Ettore Germano Nascetta

That’s a great addition to the list!

The only nascettas I’ve had are Germano’s and Cogno’s, and they’re both fascinating wines, with a lot of complexity and concentration and a strong saline element. Nadia Cogno said that she likes theirs with 10 years of age, so I’ve stashed away a few bottles.

For those who don’t know nascetta, it’s a grape that was almost extinct. It’s grown almost exclusively in the Novello village in Barolo, where it’s experiencing a bit of a revival. That was the story of arneis, too, until Alfredo Currado at Vietti started taking it seriously many decades ago.

[J_Henson]

Greco di Tufo
Benito Ferrara Greco di Tufo Vigna Cicogna Greco di Tufo
Pinot Bianco
Cantina Terlan Pinot Bianco Terlano Riserva Vorberg
Kellerei Nals-Margreid Pinot Bianco Alto Adige - Südtirol Sirmian
Soave
Pieropan Soave Classico Calvarino Garganega
Azienda Agricola Prà Soave Classico Garganega [my greatest white wine QPR=='17 vintage selling $14 per bottle at Wine Library]
Azienda Agricola Prà Soave Classico Monte Grande
Carricante
Pietradolce Etna Archineri Etna DOC Carricante
Trebbiano
Tiberio Trebbiano d’Abruzzo Fonte Canale

[TomHill]

What are your best experiences, able to challenge the best white expressions in the world (dry or sweet) ?

I’m interested that people have listed arneis. A good one can be quite interesting, but there are so many diluted, boring ones. Even the best I don’t see it answering to Laurent’s description.

Me too. I’ve tasted numerous examples of Arneis, but while the best ones can be mighty good, most of them are just nice and inconspicuous little sippers. The same applies to Ribolla Gialla, although the overall level seems to be a bit better and the best examples tend to be better than the best Arneis wines.

Timorasso, on the other hand, never seems to fail. I’ve tasted a good handful of them and not a single one has been less than brilliant. Walter Massa’s and Claudio Mariotto’s single vineyard Timorassos are simply outstanding.

All in all, I’ve tasted tons and tons of Italian whites and most of them tend to be quite uninteresting and overtly simple stuff. However, the best ones can really blow your socks off. Along with those aforementioned Timorassos, my favorites are:

• Radikon “whites” (or orange wines)
• Borgo del Tiglio Malvasia Istrana
• Colonnara Cuprese Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Riserva (probably not that interesting while young, but extraordinary after 20 years)
• Cantina Terlan Pinot Bianco Vorberg Riserva
• Fattoria San Lorenzo Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Riserva Vigna delle Oche
• Joaquin dall’ Isola
• Bibi Graetz Cicala del Giglio
• Suavia Massifitti
• Skerk Vitovska
• Elisabetta Foradori Nosiola
• Sartarelli Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Superiore Balciana
• Lis Fadis Sbilf Friulano
• Ettore Germano Nascetta

I haven’t tasted Valentini’s Trebbiano, but knowing his Cerasuolos and Montepulcianos, I believe they are nothing short of stunning.

• Nals-Margreid Pinot Bianco Sirmian

Very nice list, Otto. Many of them strangers to me.

1. Agree w/ your take on Timorasso. It can be a profound white.
2. I like Sandi’s Vitovska as well. Good balance of skin-contact phenolics and fruit, though I’ve not got a good
   handle on the varietal character of Vitovska…so many of them are made w/ skin-contact, which subverts the varietal character.
   But of the Skerk whites, the Ograde is my easy favorite. A profound white.
3. As is Elisabetta’s Nosiola.
   Tom

[Laurent_Gibet]

Reading previous notes, I see this very good wine, rated 90/100 two weeks ago :
Umbria Roccafiore Fiorfiore 2015 (grechetto di Todi)

[Andrew_A_r_n_t_f_i_e_l_d]

Andrew,

Never tasted this Quintarelli’s white (Garganega, Trebbiano Toscano, Sauvignon Bianco, Chardonnay and Saorin)

It’s terrific, IMHO, and an annual case buy for me. A bonus: it’s still reasonably priced at under $40 USD.

Viscous mouthfeel with apricot, peach, lemon, and sweet honeysuckle, but the palate-coating fruit is balanced with a solid acidic edge. A lingering finish.

[Andrew_A_r_n_t_f_i_e_l_d]

Another that I recently tried for the first time (thanks Envoyer!) and would add to my list:

• Edi Kante Vitovska Selezione

The clarity and salinity of a good Chablis balanced with a melange of orchard fruit.

[Anders_G]

As Tom and Otto pointed out, Timorasso provides some of the best white wines of Italy and can challenge the best white expressions in the world. Timorasso is ridiculously underestimated and can be appreciated young, but ages even better. Walter Massa leads the pack but there are several other producers on a high level.
Agree with the before mentioned Quintarellis white Valpolicella and Valentinis Trebbiano d’Abruzzo, these are world class whites, as are the Friuli whites from Josko Gravner and earlier wines from Stanko Radikon.
I have a soft spot for the whites of Lazio such as Falanghina or Greco di Tufo as well as Vermentino di Sardegna particularly from the Gallura region, but they do not reach the class or depth of the former mentioned wines, imho.

I too think the sweet wines from Marsala by the passed away Marco de Bartoli belong to the best sweet wines in the world.

And, as a passionate of Sherry wines, of course Vernaccia de Oristano has to belong on a list of Italy’s best white wines!

[Otto_Forsberg]

• Ettore Germano Nascetta

That’s a great addition to the list!

The only nascettas I’ve had are Germano’s and Cogno’s, and they’re both fascinating wines, with a lot of complexity and concentration and a strong saline element. Nadia Cogno said that she likes theirs with 10 years of age, so I’ve stashed away a few bottles.

For those who don’t know nascetta, it’s a grape that was almost extinct. It’s grown almost exclusively in the Novello village in Barolo, where it’s experiencing a bit of a revival. That was the story of arneis, too, until Alfredo Currado at Vietti started taking it seriously many decades ago.

Of those handful of Nascettas I’ve had, Germano’s have been the best. Rivetto and Diego Conterno Nascettas have been very good as well, while San Silvestro’s Ghercina Naschetta was a rather uninteresting effort. Then I’ve tasted some wines that fit somewhere there in-between, but I’ve yet to taste that Cogno one.

[James_Sanders]

Fiano di Avellino (for example Pietracupa and Ciro Picariello)
and Greco di Tufo (in addition to the two above, also Benito Ferrara and his Vigna Cicogna)

We were in the south two weeks ago and had the Ciro Picariello Fiano 2016 in Positano. It was lovely. Best white of the trip. We tried his 2017 Greco a few nights later, and it was still a bit angular. But the promise is there. This is a producer I’ll keep on my radar.

[Jim_Stewart]

For sweet, I’d have to go with Avignonesi Vin Santo; I had a '94, tremendous complexity, like port squared, while also being the most viscous wine I have ever encountered. On non-sweet, there are so many and so many different styles,a number of which have been mentioned above. Pieropan is certainly one, very classic; Gravner, another, and just the opposite. Then, there are the various Arneis, including Giacosa and Vietti, as well as Freisa, and all the Sicilians, both Carricante and Fiano (which I am just getting to know better). Generally, I avoid Tuscan whites and most vermentino, but I may be missing something.

Joshua, we had a tour and wine-paired lunch at Avignonesi in June 2017 on my wife’s birthday. Nice wines, generous pours / re-pours and tasty food. Their Vin Santo was a definite highlight of the meal, but was topped that day by their Balsamic Vinegar as the best liquid on the table. We thought we would bring back some of it (the vinegar) for a gourmet neighbor, but balked when we saw the price of the small cruet.
Cheers
-Jim

Avignonesi Vin Santo with dessert plate

through the wine and wine glasses

[Joe_W_i_n_o_g_r_a_d]

Generally, I avoid Tuscan whites and most vermentino, but I may be missing something.

It has been interesting to me to explore the Montenidoli bottlings. I’ve especially liked the Vernaccia Tradizionale and Templare (vernaccia+trebbiano gentile+malvasia blend…the poor man’s tondonia blanco!). Back vintages can be found here for a song.

[Laurent_Gibet]

As Tom and Otto pointed out, Timorasso provides some of the best white wines of Italy and can challenge the best white expressions in the world. Timorasso is ridiculously underestimated and can be appreciated young, but ages even better. Walter Massa leads the pack but there are several other producers on a high level.
Agree with the before mentioned Quintarellis white Valpolicella and Valentinis Trebbiano d’Abruzzo, these are world class whites, as are the Friuli whites from Josko Gravner and earlier wines from Stanko Radikon.
I have a soft spot for the whites of Lazio such as Falanghina or Greco di Tufo as well as Vermentino di Sardegna particularly from the Gallura region, but they do not reach the class or depth of the former mentioned wines, imho.

I too think the sweet wines from Marsala by the passed away Marco de Bartoli belong to the best sweet wines in the world.

And, as a passionate of Sherry wines, of course Vernaccia de Oristano has to belong on a list of Italy’s best white wines!

I tasted, several years ago : Vernaccia Di Oristano - Azienda Vinicola Attilio Contini 1985, 1992 and “Flor” 1997.
Intersting but less than Marco de Bartoli (grillo) and not great as many sherrys I often enjoy (Tradicion, Lustau Vors, Equipo Navazos as well as many others …).

[Mark_Henderson]

Walter Massa Timorasso tops the list for me.
Elvio Cogno Nas-cetta was memorable too.
Paolo Bea Trebbiano Spoletino intellectually stimulating
This may sound odd given the thread title, but a good Moscato d’Asti is a wonderfully joyous thing

[Gary_York]

As is often the case, vintage can be very important to the choices. And of course age. Still these are some good choices.

Tavignano Verdicchio Misco and Misco Riserva
Brovia Arneis
Benito Ferrara Greco Vigna Cicogna
LaStaffa Verdicchio Riserva
Cantine Lonardo Grecomusc’
Cenatiempo Ischia Bianco and Lefkos