Vermentino, attractive, aromatic white grape variety widely grown in north western Italy, Sardinia, to a limited extent in Corsica, and in southern France, where it is a recently permitted variety in many appellations. dna profiling showed it is identical to the Ligurian pigato, the Piedmont variety favorita and has long been considered identical to the rolle of Provence (although this has yet to be confirmed by DNA profiling).
France has the world’s greatest area planted with Vermentino/Rolle: 4,721 ha/11,660 acres by 2011, considerably boosted by recent plantings in the Languedoc, fuelled by varietal fashion. The Var département grows about 1,500 ha, about the same as the entire Languedoc-Roussillon, and it is both the southern Rhône’s and Corsica’s most planted white grape variety dominating the island’s white appellation contrôlée wines. The wines vary from floral to citrus but are almost always refreshing.
