Colli di Luni: A wine lover's guide

Vermentino, the quintessential coastal grape, thrives on the shores of Tuscany, through Liguria to southern France, Corsica and Sardinia. At the heart of this triangle is the Colli di Luni zone, a land of castles and stone-built villages, hillside wineries and stunning sea views.

Here, some of the most harmonious and expressive Vermentino is made, enticingly savoury and sometimes surprisingly ageworthy.

For fans of authentic Italian white wines, stunning scenery and ancient history, Colli di Luni is like nowhere else.

Colli di Luni's stunning landscape

The Colli di Luni occupies a crescent of wooded hills extending like an embrace towards the sea and the ancient Roman site of Luni. It's the easternmost corner of Liguria, spilling over into north-west Tuscany, where the Alpi Apuane mountains sparkle with white Carrara marble, creating a spectacular backdrop and mild microclimate ventilated by sea breezes.

The scenic Bocca di Magra estuary and celebrated coastal spots like Portovenere and Cinque Terre are nearby.

Where to eat and drink in Colli di Luni

Wineries to visit

Just outside charming Sarzana, Il Monticello winery (www.ilmonticello.it) is run by brothers Davide and Alessandro Neri. The latter is an engineer whose inventions include vine disease monitoring and fermentation control systems. ‘We have lots of fun!’ he says.

Like most here, vines are split between numerous small plots. One has two distinct soils, giving rise to sibling Vermentino crus: minerally ‘Argille Grigie’ from chalky grey clay, and complex ‘Argille Rosse’ from iron-rich red clay. Try too their fresh, contemporary red Vermentino Nero – unrelated to white Vermentino – and increasingly grown hereabouts.

Near Luni is the area’s flagship winery, Cantine Lunae (www.cantinelunae.com), based between historic Ca' Lunae (below) and the contemporary winery where sustainability goes hand-in-hand with design. As latest generation owner-winemaker Diego Bosoni points out: ‘our aim is to create harmony with nature and wine through art and architecture’.

With 65 hectares of vines plus a network of growers, they're the denomination's largest wine estate. While Bosoni experiments with minor native varieties like Pollera Nera (‘International varieties have never taken root here’), Vermentino dominates in the area's three bands of land: sandy lowlands (currently outside the denomination), clay-soiled foothills, and rocky higher plots where the vibrant ‘Etichetta Nera’ (DWWA 2025 Silver medal) originates.

Bosoni also makes an apple-fresh 48-month aged Vermentino-Albarola traditional method brut.

Nearby Andrea Marcesini of La Felce winery (www.facebook.com/marcesini.andrea) works with just 6ha under vine, and although he was the consortium's first president, his wines are no longer labelled as Colli di Luni DOC: ‘I'm not against the denomination, I just wanted to go my own way’, he says.

With Triple A certification for his low-intervention wines – including a perpetual blend – he is doing just that. He's also involved in a vineyard therapy project with psychiatric hospital residents.

High in the hills at 550 metres above sea level, Fosdinovo stands out for its magnificent castle, vineyards with superb sea views, and schist soil bringing minerality and complexity to wines.

While Ivan Giuliani at Terenzuola (www.terenzuola.it) experiments extensively with lesser-known varieties, his star wines are ageworthy Vermentino crus from vines overlooked by two statuesque pines: ‘I Pini di Corsano’ (DWWA 2025 Silver medal) is remarkable. Tastings include old vintages, showing exciting evolution and freshness after even a decade.

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