Panizzi: Ageworthy Vernaccia and characterful Tuscan Pinot Nero

last updated 3 December 2024

Nestled among Tuscany’s vineyards and forests, the tiny medieval village of Larniano lies just a short distance from San Gimignano and its UNESCO World Heritage Site. The patchwork of tall towers and hilltop villages harks back to when the Medici dynasty ruled these lands as part of the medieval Republic of Florence.

Panizzi, the historic producer that calls Larniano home, is celebrating its rich heritage while maintaining a sharp focus on the future. In addition to showcasing the impressive ageability of Vernaccia di San Gimignano, Tuscany’s flagship white grape, Panizzi has also pioneered the growing of Pinot Noir on the slopes above Larniano.

Turning Vernaccia into a star

Ever since Giovanni Panizzi founded his eponymous winery in 1979, Vernaccia has sat at the heart of the estate. Today, 21 of its 55 hectares are dedicated to this historic local variety, which has spent centuries adapting to San Gimignano’s microclimate. Panizzi’s focus on highlighting the grape’s complexity and potential to evolve has continued under the stewardship of current owner Simone Niccolai.

That focus on future evolution extends to Panizzi’s care for its vineyards. The winery has gained organic certification and deploys numerous sustainable practices, the vines, for example, are tended exclusively by hand and fertilised with only natural products, including residual biomass from the harvest. The vineyards are tended as part of a wider 300ha property that includes olive groves, forests, a hunting reserve and the estate’s hospitality centre.

Award-winning expressions

Panizzi’s classic Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG 2021 was awarded 91 points and a Silver medal at the 2022 Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA), with the judges praising its ‘crisp orchard fruit with a hint of lemon oil’. Despite being perfectly crafted for drinking young, the wine has excelled at tastings of older vintages too.

Made using fruit from the estate’s original vineyard – whose vines are more than 50 years old – the Vigna Santa Margherita Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG 2019 was awarded 96 points and a Gold medal at a previous DWWA. The judges praised its ‘dried herb aromas with intense green pepper and lily’ alongside ‘ripe apricot and lemon’. Due to be released in 2025, the 2023 vintage will be the 20th iteration of this remarkable cru.

Vernaccia’s ageability – long championed by Panizzi – was likewise demonstrated by its Vernaccia di San Gimignano Riserva DOCG 2017, which won 95 points and a Gold medal at a previous DWWA. Hailing from a single vineyard of only two hectares, and spending at least two years in bottle, the Riserva was praised for its ‘Burgundian’ character and ‘stony backbone of saline minerality’. Year after year, back vintages of Panizzi’s remarkable Vernaccia wines score highly at tastings and continue to prove the variety’s ageing potential.

A refined red to match Vernaccia’s elegance

While white wines have made Panizzi famous, the estate hasn’t rested on its laurels; instead, the winery has been conducting research that identified Pinot Noir – known in Italy as Pinot Nero – as an ideal grape for its microclimate. At a previous Decanter tasting, the organic San Gimignano Pinot Nero DOC 2021, sourced from the four-hectare La Ventola vineyard, was described as ‘very fresh and filigreed, with well-defined red cherry and cranberry aromas, underscored by a zesty streak of blood orange’.

Meanwhile, the Ermius San Gimignano Pinot Nero DOC 2020 (also organic and produced exclusively from the 777 clone) was praised for its ‘very elegant use of wood’ and ‘pleasant combination of deep black berries and crunchy pomegranate… lined by spicy pepper and cardamom’.