“Vespaiolo is clearly named for the hungry wasps (vespe) that target its sweet grapes.”
Ian D’Agata – Native Wine Grape of Italy, 2014.
Vespaiolo is about as local and obscure as a grape as I can get. It is found almost exclusively in the little-known town of Breganze just north of Vicenza, where it is most famous for being made into a sweet wine called Torcolato (after the method of production called “torcolare” / “twist.”)
A month or so ago, at the Ombra delle Mura wine fair, Marco gave me a couple of bottles to try at home. I may be a little biased because I have known Marco for a few years now and I’ve tried some of his tai rosso wines in the past but this wine “Vespasi L.0522” blew me away.
It has all of that juiciness which gives the variety vespaiolo its name – ripe apricots, acacia honey – but instead of following the tradition and going down a sweet wine path, this is completely dry and has a beautiful complexity and depth that comes from old vines and a little skin contact.
The acidity is not invasive; a counterpoint to the richness of the wine. Full of character while remaining a easy to drink. A masterpiece which held its shape even after the bottle had been open for 3 days.
Speaking of which, did you see my recent blog post on wines that improved with time?
Marco doesn’t seem to have a website yet but you can find him on social media here.
I messaged him for some more technical information about this wine:
If you find the 2020 vintage, Marco didn’t do any skin contact. This was the 2021 and it did two days on the skins.
The vineyard is located in Breganze, where the soil is 60cm deep before you hit red rock from an old lava flow, rich in oxidised iron.
The vines are 50-60 years old, the wine was vinified in cement and just 700 bottles were produced. Boom!
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