One grape, four names, one sea. Along the western Mediterranean the same variety answers to rolle in Provence, pigato in Liguria, favorita in Piedmont and vermentino in Corsica, Sardinia and along the Tuscan shore — a coastal wanderer whose route between Italy, the islands and France is still argued, and probably unknowable.
What never varies is the register: sea herbs, bitter almond, pear and salt, a white with the faint oiliness of the Mediterranean varieties and a bitter twist on the finish that keeps it savoury. It is standing proof that a grape can taste of a latitude — Vermentino is at its best drunk within sight of the water that grew it, from the granites of Gallura to the calanques.