About the producer:

Claudio Vio and his wife Maria Grazia tend the family farm that Claudio's father planted in the 1970s, twelve kilometers into the Ligurian mountains off the Mediterranean coast. They farm a patchwork of tiny terraced plots of mostly Vermentino and Pigato, totaling 5 hectares.

About the wine:

"Runcu Brujau" means "burned escarpment" in Ligurian dialect, a reference to the frequent wildfires that historically came through the vineyard plot. It is planted to a field blend of Rossese, Ormeasco, and Granaccia, making it the only red wine that Claudio and Maria produce. Given it's quality and price, I was disappointed but also deeply grateful to learn that the plot is 0.1 hectares in size - just enough to plant 500 vines, and make 60 cases of wine each year. This is truly "Vino da Tavola" as the label indicates: a table wine for the home, and we are lucky to have a chunk of it arrive here stateside.

Rossese, with it's light, supple tannins, and fragrant nose of fresh strawberries and roses, is somewhat of a known, if obscure, variety. Ormeasco and Granaccia, on the other hand, required a consultation with Jancis's Wine Grapes. Ormeasco is a local name for a variety only slightly better known as the Sardinian specialty "Vernaccia di Oristano," which is used to make fascinating manzanilla sherry-like wines. Granaccia, it turns out, is a Ligurian clone of Dolcetto, the Piemontese classic.

These three grapes sing together in beautiful harmony in Vio's 2023 Runcu Brujau, greeting you with aromas that are at once simply delightful, and intriguing. Fresh alpine strawberries and cherry fruit supply the pleasure, while accents of dried marjoram and basil give it a rustic, distinctively Italian edge. The palate is lithe and delicate, the kind of wine that can certainly be chilled slightly, with just enough tannic grip to make it a perfectly versatile dinner wine. I know I'll be drinking this wine with all manner of foods in the coming months!

-Gaston, tasted 10/2/24