2020 Sergio Mottura, Grechetto Tuscia DOC “Poggio Della Costa” Civitella d’Agliano, Lazio, Italy.
It was a great pleasure to taste through the lineup of Sergio Mottura wines with Sebastiano Mottura at the recent Slow Wine show in San Francisco, as I have always loved the Grechetto whites here and was thrilled with this extended cellered 2020 version of the Poggio Della Costa, which was showing brilliantly on the day. Now taking on a deeper golden hue in the glass, it was still wonderfully fresh and exceptionally balanced with a fine steely/mineral core with a range of citrus, peach and melon fruits on the nicely textured medium/full bodied palate. The maturity only adds complexity and a slight secondary element here, as the acidity has kept things well focused, there’s lemon/lime, peach preserves, a touch of tart quince, bitter almond, leesy brioche, oyster shell, a bit of white flower florals and clove spice and a stony finish. The more recently released 2023 Poggio Della Costa was also fabulous and I highly recommend it, along with any of the Sergio Mottura offerings that you might come across. This 2020 has plenty of life ahead and it should get even more interesting in the next 3 to 5 years, enjoy it with a range of food options, but soft cheeses, poultry and pork dishes would be good choices.
One of my under the radar and favorite dry white wines, the tank raised Grechetto Poggio della Costa from Sergio Mottura, is a vibrant and leesy white wine that delivers fine detail, energy, and complexity, making it one of the most beautiful wines made from this varietal coming from vines that are grown on mostly volcanic soils that straddle the Umbria and Lazio regions of central Italy. The vineyards run along the Tiber River and allow for some cooling influences here and Mottura has long produced fine examples of organic and terroir driven wines from this lesser known region not far from Italy’s capital Rome. Father east you see Grechetto in Umbria, where it thrives in Orvieto, though this one seems more deep and stylish than most from there, and certainly this aged version is really hitting its stride and has an elevated sense of elegance and class in the glass. Also, because of the river, Mottura can also produce a unique and delicious sweet, noble rot influenced, Sauternes style dessert wine, which I was also lucky enough to sample. Sebastiano Mottura told me also that they are in the process of looking for a new importer for the US market, so these might be a bit harder to locate, but well worth looking for.
($26 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive