Review: 2019 Famiglia Cotarella Ferentano Bianco Lazio IGP
Ferentano derives from the archaeological site of Ferento, an ancient Etruscan town near the vineyards that grow a grape varietal called roscetto, a white wine grape that is reportedly now grown only in one small vineyard near the town of Montefiascone, in the Lazio region. Chances are you can go your whole life without encountering roscetto-based wine: I know I have.
Cotarella’s Ferentano is a bold and assertive wine, bright gold in color and with the body to back it up. A powerful core of overripe tropical fruit is backed up by notes of green apple, grapefruit, and a layer of honeysuckle. Increasingly acidic the more you let it linger in the glass and on the tongue, the wine slowly reveals a salty minerality that enhances its biting qualities and pushes it toward a lengthy, brisk finish, driven by papaya and racy lemon curd. Not a wine I’ll soon forget.
A- / $25