San Marzano Talò Verdeca 2025
£10.75
The wine
A refreshing, dry Verdeca showing a richness of aromatics with notes of white flowers, crisp green apple and a hint of honey, through to a vibrant palate with a creamy texture and a thirst-quenching finish.
Verdeca is the traditional white grape of the Valle d'Itria in central Puglia, and for most of the twentieth century it went to the vermouth industry rather than into bottles of its own. It ripens late and holds acidity well in a hot climate, which is exactly why growers are returning to it. Talo is San Marzano's range of native varietal wines.
The producer
San Marzano
View all San Marzano winesIn 1962 nineteen growers in the village of San Marzano pooled their vineyards and founded a cooperative. More than sixty years later it draws on over 1,200 growers across Salento and the Manduria hills, and has become one of the most professional and forward-thinking houses in southern Italy.
The real asset is the old vines. Much of Puglia is still planted to alberello, the free-standing bush training the Greeks brought to the region, in which each vine stands alone without wires or posts. It cannot be machine harvested and it crops very little, but the fruit it gives is concentrated in a way trellised vines rarely match. Some of the plots behind Sessantanni and Anniversario 62 are well past sixty years old, and the names say exactly that.
The range is built on the three native reds of the heel of Italy: Primitivo, genetically identical to Zinfandel; Negroamaro, whose name means roughly black and bitter; and the near-forgotten Susumaniello. Passion and competence are the stated bywords, and the run of awards suggests they are more than a slogan.
