Chiesa Nera Blanc VdF 2019

The Clos Venturi winery is located in the small village of Ponte-Leccia in the municipality of Morosaglia, about 50 kilometres southwest of the capital Bastia. The wines of François Aquaviva, Jean-Marc and Manu Venturi uniquely combine continental freshness with Mediterranean ripeness, made possible by the exceptional altitude of the vineyards on sandstone, basalt, granite and blue slate. The 2019 Chiesa Nera Blanc is a cuvée of Viancu Gentile and Genovese Vermentinu, spontaneously fermented in large barrels.

Rich old gold, radiant and clear.

At first, the 2019 Chiesa Nera Blanc from Clos Venturi is closed and not very communicative, so into the carafe, preferably upside down with caracho. With increasing aeration, the first fruity notes appear, pome fruit peel, a little quince along with citrus and white flowers in the top note. Then it breaks open and the fruity aromas are joined by distinctive notes of Mediterranean maquis, thyme, laurel, camomile and tossed oyster shells. Underneath pulsates like a rich bass the resinous smoky minerality of the wine, which by now dominates its entire being. A wine that needs at least five years of bottle ageing to show its full potential.

On the palate, the black church is just as much a monument and does not shy away from comparison with Cologne Cathedral. Massive and powerful, it shows itself in all its splendour and aromatically casts the shadows of its perspective development ahead. Currently a monolith of a wine, it pulsates firmly and powerfully on the palate and searches for means of expressing its exuberant fullness and complexity. Salty, as if licking a pyramid, it currently only hints at future greatness without indulging in speculation. There is clearly greatness in the glass here that has to hide from nothing and no one. Orchestral wine with cathedral reverberation.