Croci 'Valtolla' Bianco 2021

Press 4 White • August 2023 Direct Press Selection

Massimiliano Croci has only been at the helm of his family's estate since 1999 but in those years he has made Croci into one of the most important names in natural wine, helping to guide others who also wanted to turn back the clock on many of the traditions that were being lost to in a homogenous sea of modernization and standardization that began in the 1980s. Using modern methods like charmat and filtration, Massi says, "the wines could be from anywhere." With the older techniques, "you taste the land." So he went back to working the way his grandfather did in the 1930s.

Valtolla is a still wine from Malvasia di Candia. It spends 30 days on the skins and 10 months aging in concrete. Creamy citrus notes pop out of the glass on first pouring. You’re then met with jasmine flowers or tea, a hint of Sunny Delight, bright citrus oils freshly squeezed from the peels, a pop of spice, with intense concentration and tannin, all while being light and refreshing.You can certainly taste the land, as there is a distinctive iron tang that reflects the iron-rich clay soils where it is grown, a parcel Massi prefers for still wines. Jonathan Kemp and Jeremy Hernandez