Pigato

There is an Italian white wine that sommeliers seek out, Riviera restaurateurs keep to themselves and the wider public has yet to discover. It is called Pigato. It grows only in Liguria, between Albenga and Imperia, on hand-built terraced vineyards above the Ligurian sea. And when you taste it for the first time you immediately understand why those who know it prefer to keep it quiet.

Pigato is an indigenous variety of the Riviera Ligure di Ponente — genetically related to Vermentino but with a completely autonomous and distinctive character, forged by centuries of cultivation on poor, stony and sun-drenched soils just a few kilometres from the Mediterranean sea. The name recalls the characteristic pinkish spots that appear on the grape skin at ripeness — a detail that speaks of how deeply this variety is tied to its land and its history.

What makes Pigato unique among Italian whites is its aromatic complexity: a perfume of Mediterranean herbs — rosemary, thyme, sage, Ligurian scrubland — found in no other Italian variety, combined with notes of white peach, almond, citrus and a sapid, almost briny minerality that directly recalls the proximity of the sea. On the palate it is full, enveloping and persistent — a white with enough structure to partner important dishes and enough freshness to never tire.