Old vintages of Plenio and Vecchie Vigne. The evolution of Verdicchio

Periodically we taste old vintages of our wines to understand their ageing potential.
This time Michele Bernetti with the oenologist Giacomo Mattioli, focused on old vintages of Plenio and Vecchie Vigne to study the evolution of a versatile grape variety like Verdicchio. 

They started with Plenio 1996 vintage: the second-produced vintage of this label is an incredible surprise. Still very intact, with an intense, bright golden color and spicy, candied scents, a sign of a different stylistic code than today. Lavish but vibrant and incredibly pleasurable. A surprise! These positive impressions will remain for the entire tasting and will be confirmed by the various vintages in an almost transversal way.

What emerges is that the most critical vintages from a climatic point of view, are amazingly surprising for their evolution, confirming the versatility of this grape variety, its ability to evolve itself over time, assuming unpredictable and unexpected results. Two examples are vintage 2003, characterised by a precocious and relentless heat, and vintage 2014, much cooler and with rather difficult climatic conditions.

This tasting reinforces the idea that there are many stories behind every vintage.

Our work continues.