Falchini’s Ab Vinea Doni is as serious as Vernaccia gets, and it’s a knockout in the lovely 2017 vintage. The Ab Vinea Doni (“gifts from the vineyard”) is the estate’s flagship white and one of the DOCG’s greatest wines. Produced from Vernaccia with a small dollop of Chardonnay, the Ab Vinea Doni is fermented and aged in small barriques, which give the wine superb structure and the ability to age gracefully. A vibrant lemon-gold color, the wine casts aromas of Mirabelle plums, yellow melon, heather, beeswax, and smoky, dissolved limestone minerals. Vinous and incisive on the palate, the wine layers impressions of smoky limestone minerality, acacia, juicy melon, and yellow apple fruit and complex barrel notes of resin and sandalwood. The wine finishes with a savory limestone expression that lifts and brightens the wine’s kernel of sappy yellow fruits. Pair it now and over the coming five years with hearty food such as mature cheeses, roast chicken, rabbit, duck, veal, pork, and eggplant lasagna.
A January 2020 newsletter selection
