Tuscany makes 90: it is for another year the region with the most 3 Glasses in Gambero Rosso‘s 2021 Wines of Italy Guide. And among this elite of wine excellence is Panizzi’s 2016 Vernaccia di San Gimignano Riserva.
Another recognition, surely one of the most prestigious, that comes with the anticipation of the Guide’s awardees; thus, it is now official to award the highest rating, the 3 Bicchieri, to Panizzi’s historic wine, which requires very special care in its production. It comes from a single vineyard at 400 meters above sea level located on a tuff plateau; processed in barriques, Vernaccia Riserva Panizzi is the best demonstration of this vine’s ability to evolve and hold over time, giving rise to a wine that best expresses the aging capabilities of San Gimignano’s white wine.
Straw yellow in color, luminous with greenish tinge tending to old gold, the bouquet is broad, aristocratic, very variegated in a balanced initial blend of broom flowers and walnut husk, grapefruit and melon, fading into vanilla notes harmonized with mineral hints of flint. The taste asserts itself as a wine of character, concentrated, savory, perfectly balanced, with a finish enlivened by a firm acid backbone. Complex, mineral, it has long persistence with an aftertaste in which ripe fruit notes surface. Panizzi’s Riserva is excellent paired with baked fish, white meats, preparations with delicate sauces, aged cheeses, and creamy blue cheeses.
If the 3 Glasses to Panizzi’s Vernaccia Riserva are a sort of recognition for a journey that began a little more than 30 years ago, it should not be forgotten that today the San Gimignano-based winery, owned by Simone Niccolai and directed by Walter Sovran, is engaged in newer directions with labels experimenting with different vinifications or using less usual grape varieties for this area, such as pinot noir.