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Sensi adapts to safeguard its coastal Vermentino

16 September 2024 By Michael Huband

Longstanding Tuscan producer Sensi is facing climate change head-on to protect the coastal character of its award-winning Vermentino.

The hills of Italy – Montalcino, say, or the horseshoe-shaped valley of Barolo – are so synonymous with fine collectable wines that the coasts are often neglected. Yet Italy is a seaward nation. It has more than 7500 kilometres of coastline, 50% more than France or Spain, with practically all its wine regions showing some degree of coastal influence. Even in Tuscany, famed for its inland reds, wines are made with a true coastal character, as demonstrated by the Sensi Mandriano Toscana IGT Vermentino.

Among Sensi’s plantings, the winery singles out Vermentino as ‘a grape that loves the sea’. While its Sangiovese may be planted up to 400 metres above sea level, the Vermentino for this cuvée is grown below 100m, exposing it directly to coastal breezes. With heat dissipated by the wind, the grapes can retain their characteristic freshness.

That is evidenced in the flavour profile, defined by bright acidity and aromas such as white flowers and peach. It is a wine that tends towards delicacy rather than bold, ripe aromas. The suggested pairings, therefore, include seafood appetisers and and raw fish dishes.

The region’s terroir also supports an elegant flavour profile. Loose, deep soils promote resilience in the roots and help provide a reliable water supply, vital in a warmer climate. Sensi suggests the wine shows a mineral character, perhaps as a result of the complex soils: it contains sand, clay, schist, limestone and ancient marine fossils.

An emerging challenge

Such an expression, conveying the freshness of the Italian seaside, is, however, under threat. Climate change poses a significant challenge, both to protect the vines and maintain the characteristic styles of the wines. Sensi has therefore invested heavily in mitigating both threats.

In the vineyards, the vines see new stresses resulting from warmer temperatures. Summer heatwaves threaten both to overheat the vines and cause water stress. The abundant heat and sunshine can also mean too much vigour, reducing the eventual quality. Vineyard adaptations are therefore essential to counteract these new threats. Sensi therefore conducts careful canopy management to ensure cooling airflow, as well as promoting healthy growth in the vine.

In the winery, meanwhile, freshness and protection are the key aims. Nitrogen is an essential tool for Sensi; in forming a protective layer, it prevents the must interacting with the air. That would create oxidative aromas that would distract from the varietal character, and therefore detract from the desired fruit-forward freshness.

Across its range, Sensi has a number of levers to pull in order to express its varieties and terroirs in their purest form. Maceration and fermentation temperatures, for instance, are carefully controlled, especially in red and rosé production. They must be warm enough to extract colour and tannin, but not to overwhelm any delicate varietal aromas. Another tool is to keep a wine in contact with the fine lees, as this can further protect against oxidation.

Italy is facing a complex battle against a changing climate. However, in its Mandriano Vermentino, Sensi demonstrates the value in adapting to maintain a style. Italy’s dramatic geography and native grape varieties are an admirable inheritance, and protecting them is worth some careful consideration.

Sensi Mandriano Toscana IGT Vermentino secured a Gold Medal at The Drinks Business Spring Tasting. Its tasting note is featured below.

Sensi Mandriano Toscana IGT Vermentino

Producer: Sensi Vini
Region: Tuscany
Country: Italy
Vintage: 2022
Grape varieties: 100% Vermentino
ABV: 13%
Approx. retail price: £17.50
Medal: Gold

Mid-yellow, with green accents in the glass. There is plenty of fruit-led aromatics, encompassing peach, golden apple and greengage, as well as spicy, leesy and floral notes. On the palate, this is dry, fresh and fruity, combining bracing acidity, a creamy texture and a notably savoury finish.