G.D. Vajra Langhe Riesling Petracine 2015

Showing a delicate greenish tint when young, it leaves space for straw yellow hues as it develops. Yellow peaches and apricots in its youth, with delicate floral and citrus notes at its mid-life while showing minerality and flint stone with age. On the palate it is harmonious and geometrically precise, almost austere, surprises you with its refreshing and balanced acidity.

The wine is primarily produced with fruit from the Fossati vineyard, located north of the village of Barolo. Giuseppe’s father, Aldo Vaira, had always had an interest in the way Riesling expressed its personality and sense of location, so when the opportunity to purchase the vineyard presented itself in 1984, he took it.

The Fossati vineyard has a vein of gravel soils that runs through it and this is where the Riesling vines were planted. Grapes for this wine are also sourced from a second vineyard in the commune of Sinio, just east of Serralunga d’Alba.

The name Pètracine comes from an old Alsatian nickname for Riesling; petra being the Latin for stone and racine meaning roots in French, referencing how the roots of Riesling need to dig deep into the stony soil in which it grows so well.

The grapes go through rigorous selection both in the vineyard during harvest and at the sorting table in the winery, before being gently pressed and fermented in stainless steel tanks. Ageing occurs in steel tanks until the spring following harvest when the wine is bottled.

A perfumed wine showing good weight and acidity on the palate with refreshing flavours of citrus, stone and tropical fruits. White flowers of jasmine and honeysuckle complement the fruit before leading on to a finish of chalky minerality.