Zagare

Adria Vini is an Italian winemaking venture established in 2003 as a joint project between Boutinot and Araldica Castelvero, the respected Piedmontese cooperative based in the Monferrato hills. Rather than operating as a traditional single-estate winery, Adria Vini was created to work with growers and cooperatives across Italy, selecting grapes from different regions and making wines that are intended to offer a clear expression of their particular varieties and origins at accessible prices. The project gives Boutinot a direct connection with Italian wine production while allowing Araldica's winemaking team to apply its experience across a much wider range of Italian vineyards.

The wines under the Adria Vini umbrella come from a surprisingly broad spread of Italian regions, including Veneto, Friuli, Lombardy, Sicily, Puglia, Abruzzo and Sardinia. Rather than attempting to impose a single house style across these different areas, the focus is on matching grape variety with suitable vineyard sites and producing wines that are straightforward about where they come from. Grapes are sourced from a combination of private growers and cooperatives with whom Adria Vini has established long-term relationships. This model gives the company access to a much wider range of vineyards than would be possible for a small individual estate, while retaining control over grape selection, vinification, blending and bottling.

Zagare is the Sicilian expression of that approach. The name comes from zagara, the fragrant white blossom of the lemon tree, a particularly appropriate reference for a wine made from Vermentino on the western side of Sicily. The vineyards are situated close enough to the Mediterranean to benefit from the cooling influence of the sea and the light reflected from its surface. Vermentino is increasingly successful in these coastal conditions, where the combination of warm sunshine and maritime influence allows the grapes to ripen fully while retaining the acidity needed to keep the finished wine fresh. The 2024 Zagare is made from 100% Vermentino and carries the Terre Siciliane IGT designation.

The winemaking is deliberately uncomplicated, allowing the grape and the Sicilian climate to do most of the talking. The Vermentino undergoes temperature-controlled fermentation in stainless steel, followed by a short period resting on its fine lees. There is no attempt to load the wine with oak or heavy winemaking flavours. The result is a bright, aromatic white with stone fruit, preserved lemon and floral notes on the nose, followed by apricot, citrus peel and grapefruit on the palate. A little time on the lees gives the wine some additional texture, while the natural acidity and gentle savouriness keep it refreshing. It is the sort of wine where the technique is deliberately kept in the background.

The wider philosophy behind Adria Vini is therefore less about creating cult wines or chasing the latest trend and more about making good, characterful Italian wine from the right places and varieties. The partnership between Boutinot and Araldica gives the project both a strong international distribution network and substantial technical winemaking experience, while the relationships with growers provide access to vineyards across some of Italy's most interesting wine regions. Zagare is a good example of that philosophy in practice: it takes a grape that is strongly associated with Mediterranean coastal vineyards, places it in the warm but maritime conditions of western Sicily, and produces a fresh, uncomplicated wine that works particularly well with seafood, pasta and lighter Mediterranean food.