Published by Jeremy.
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One of our favorite things about Italian wines is there are so many grapes around. There are so many, in fact, that some are often thought to be other grapes, whereas others are so similar that they all have a variant of a single name despite being biologically different.
Vernaccia di San Gimignano is one such grape, and while Vernaccia is a common grape name throughout Italy, the one grown near San Gimignano is thought to be rather unique.
For those who like crisp white wines with some phenolic texture, this one is a treat.
A Textural White Wine from San Gimignano
Fontaleoni's Vernaccia di San Gimignano was pale gold in color with medium aromas of yellow apple, pear, toast, wet stone, beeswax, almond, grapefruit, pineapple, geranium, and saline.
On the palate, it was dry with high acidity, medium alcohol and flavor intensity, medium(+) body, and a long finish. We had notes similar to the nose of lemon, lime, pear, grapefruit, pineapple, wet stone, beeswax, toast, and white blossom.
For those who like a textural white, as we do, this one has it for days and the waxy components of the wine, coupled with a spread of fruit notes from citrus to ripe tropical fruit, makes this one a real treat.
Vernaccia di San Gimignano Food Pairing – Fried Chicken with Green Bean and Tomato Salad
We paired this dish with fried chicken and a green bean and tomato salad, hoping that the textural components would work well with the richness of the chicken. Admittedly, we thought the pairing here was perhaps better with the tomato salad as pairing a with a higher acidity dish allowed the flavors to shine that were otherwise masked with the battered chicken.
We had paired this wine with other similar dishes with a tomato base to provide acidity, and really enjoyed the ripe flavor notes that pop.
Score: 4 / 5
We'd buy another bottle of this one.
On the flavors alone, we always love to have a bottle of this Vernaccia di San Gimignano on hand. But throw on that it often comes in at a rather respectable price point, even in the USA, and it always has a reserved spot on our wine rack for when we want a delicious textural white wine.
Fontaleoni is located at Loc. Santa Maria, 39/A, 53037 San Gimignano, Italy. We purchased this bottle locally and enjoyed it in 2025. At the time of publication, it was available on Wine.com.
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