Wine of the week: a top-level vermentino that just keeps giving
This Sardinian white brings loads of vitality and a racy, stone-fruit-bitterness to a fine lunch.
2019 Vermentino di Sardegna, Antonella Corda, Sardinia, Italy
£19, woodshirewines.com; £19.95, oldbridgewine.co.uk
MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Top-level vermentino is a rare beast as, more often than not, it runs out of puff around the £15-mark. This wine, however, is a “Grand Cru”. I first tasted Corda’s wines on a mini-break to Sardinia a few years ago and I have never forgotten the vitality and racy, stone-fruit-bitterness which they bring to a fine lunch. There is mid-palate weight here, too, which means that there is fascinating sleight of hand in play. You can pour and drink this pin-sharp white as an electrifying aperitif, but if you bring canapés into view, it grows in the glass. Keep going and move to sashimi and ceviche dishes and it blossoms even more. Then launch a volley of lobsters or a cavalcade of serious quality fish mains and it, again, steps up like a pole-vaulter clearing ever-higher bars. They make a wickedly refreshing raspberry and fresh-herb soaked Cannonau here, too (drink this with vitello tonnato), but we will have to wait a few months for the 2019 to arrive because the ’18 is sold out. I, for one, cannot wait.
Matthew Jukes is a winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition’s Communicator of the Year (matthewjukes.com)
-
Six steps business owners should consider before April inheritance tax relief changeNew limits to inheritance tax-free allowances are coming in from the Spring that affect business owners. Those looking to sell or transfer their assets into a trust before the changes need to act now
-
Edinburgh Worldwide shareholders reject Saba proposalsToday’s requisitioned general meeting of Edinburgh Worldwide shareholders has ended in another defeat for activist investor Saba Capital management
-
Fine-art market sees buyers returnWealthy bidders returned to the fine-art market last summer, amid rising demand from younger buyers. What does this mean for 2026?
-
Review: Castiglion del Bosco, A Rosewood Hotel – a Tuscan rural idyllTravel Play golf, drink exquisite wine and eat good food at Castiglion del Bosco, A Rosewood Hotel, all within the stunning Val d’Orcia National Park in Tuscany
-
Review: A cultural tour of North IndiaTravel Jessica Sheldon explores North India's food and art scene from three luxurious Leela Palace hotels in New Delhi, Jaipur and Udaipur
-
The best luxury saunas, spas and icy plungesRestore your mind and body with luxury fire and ice experiences, from warming saunas to icy plunges
-
8 of the best properties for sale with indoor gymsThe best properties for sale with indoor gyms – from a four-storey mews house in London’s Knightsbridge, to a 1920s Arts & Crafts house in Melbury Abbas, Dorset
-
8 of the best houses for sale with beautiful fireplacesThe best houses for sale with beautiful fireplaces – from a 15th-century cottage in Kent to a 17th-century palazzo in Oxfordshire
-
The top last-minute Christmas giftsIt’s not too late to give the perfect present this festive season – we round up a selection of last-minute Christmas gifts worth giving
-
Lights, camera, action: Where to see the Northern LightsThe Northern Lights are the most spectacular they’ve been in years. Here’s where to see them
