San Gimignano
Mediterranean, tempered by altitude
The medieval town of towers, whose Vernaccia was the first Italian wine to receive a DOC, now a DOCG for dry, mineral white.
Overview
About San Gimignano
San Gimignano is a walled hill town in the Elsa valley, west of the Chianti hills, known for its remaining medieval towers and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Its wine is Vernaccia di San Gimignano, a dry white made from the Vernaccia grape, which grows in this area and is not related to the many other 'Vernaccia' varieties in Italy.
Vernaccia di San Gimignano was the first Italian wine to receive DOC status, in 1966, and became a DOCG in 1993. The wines are pale and dry, with notes of almond, green apple and white flowers, and a slightly bitter finish. A Riserva, aged for longer, shows more weight, while simple young examples are made for drinking within a year or two.
San Gimignano is marked on the map.
Italy
Shaded: Siena. Map units are states, provinces or départements, so a smaller place appears as the larger area that contains it.
The land
Climate & terroir
Climate
Mediterranean, tempered by altitude
Warm, dry summers and cool nights, with the vineyards on low hills at around 200 to 400 metres. Sea breezes from the west help keep a white wine fresh even in warm years.
Terroir & soils
What the vines grow in
Old marine sands and clays from the Pliocene, with fossil shells common in the soil, over which the vines give wines with a mineral, salty edge.
Go deeper
Rules, years & producers
Vernaccia di San Gimignano is a single-grape DOCG, with a Riserva above the standard wine.
Vernaccia di San Gimignano Riserva DOCG
Aged for longer, and often more textured and complex.
Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG
Dry white built on Vernaccia, made for drinking young and fresh.
What's grown here
Grapes
Each grape's page links back here.