Europe’s islands are not just beautiful travel destinations, they often boast indigenous grape varieties and an ancient wine culture. Here is our list of the five best island white wines.
Let us take you on an island-hopping trip around the Atlantic and the Mediterranean: we travel sip by sip, from one grape variety to another, while we imagine lapping waves, azure waters, sunny beaches and warm, sea-scented summer breezes. Join Falstaff as we pick the five best island wines for you and your summer dreaming.
Listàn Blanco is known as Palomino Fino on the Spanish mainland where it makes the famous fortified Sherry wines. On Tenerife, however, Listàn Blanco makes a refreshing white wine that brims with salnity, tanginess and citrus notes. There are some very old vines, still trained in the ancient cordón trenzado method, where branches are braided together to form gnarly, twisted monuments to viticulture.
Sicily holds many charms – not least its gorgeous Nerello Mascalese red wines, grown on the slopes of Mount Etna. The vineyards on this still active volcano, however, also boast a unique white grape variety: Carricante. Its hallmark is vibrant, refreshing acidity, a floral overtone reminiscent of orange blossom and a depth that makes you think you are drinking the cooled down lava of the Mount Etna itself.
You may already know Vermentino as a light, fragrant, coastal wine, but here in the north of Sardinia, the grape is grown on granitic soils in full heat. This turns Vermentino di Gallura into a full-bodied, textured white wine with a heady herbal savouriness and a pleasantly bitter tone on the finish. It is the ideal pairing for intense and salty seafood dishes.
The volcanic island of Santorini in the Aegean Sea is home to Assyrtiko, a white grape variety that makes intense, expressive and lemon-scented wines that come with an alluring, saline depth. Because the island is so windy, the Assyrtico vines are trained into little, round nests to protect them and their precious fruit.
Off the coast of Naples, Ischia is a tiny island but it has its own indigenous grape variety: Biancolella. This grape grows on incredibly steep slopes and harvest is cumbersome – but evidently worth it for the tropical fruit notions, its full-bodied charm and citrus-charged richness.
