Lunae Cavagino Vermentino Colli di Luni DOC 2024 (750ml) *

Vermentino finds one of its most convincing coastal expressions in Liguria, where the Colli di Luni DOC straddles the border with Tuscany. This one comes from Lunae, drawn from a single vineyard sitting at roughly 250 metres above sea level with a microclimate of its own, and fermented partly in steel and partly in wood. That split gives the 2024 both the freshness you expect from the grape and a little extra breadth.

The nose leans into Mediterranean scrub, herbal and briny, with a saline thread that runs through the whole glass. On the palate it manages two things at once, a sapid, mouthwatering vigour and a rounder sense of volume, neither of which cuts the finish short. It is an easy wine to keep pouring, the kind of white that belongs to a long evening near the water.