A Niche Wine Gem from a Tiny Corner of Liguria: Varieties, the 2025 Vintage & the Market

The annual Vite in Riviera tasting took place on Monday, 23 March 2026, inside the small deconsecrated church of San Lorenzo in Albenga, a quiet space that naturally encourages focus and attentive tasting. Since 2016, the association has brought together producers from the provinces of Savona and Imperia with the aim of promoting the typical products of the Ligurian Ponente, especially the wines of the Riviera Ligure di Ponente DOC and the Riviera Ligure DOP olive oils. The walk‑around tasting held on 22–23 March confirmed the vitality of a fragmented and demanding territory capable of producing wines with very clear identities.

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The Appellations and the grapes

The Riviera Ligure di Ponente DOC includes several expressions—Pigato, Vermentino, Rossese, Granaccia, Moscato—and recognises subzones such as Albenganese, Finalese and Quiliano. The production rules define the permitted varieties and the minimum percentages for monovarietal labels, ensuring a real correspondence between what appears on the label and what is in the bottle. Where producers opt for IGT designations (Colline Savonesi, Terrazze dell’Imperiese), the regulations are more flexible and often used for experimental blends or wines that fall outside DOC parameters, allowing freer interpretations or solutions for challenging vintages.

Pigato remains the signature white of the Ponente. Likely originating in Salea d’Albenga, it now covers around 260 hectares between Savona and Imperia. DNA analysis identifies it as a biotype of Vermentino, also related to Favorita, yet it maintains its own recognisable character: brown‑spotted skins, ripe citrus, exotic fruit, stone fruit, wet‑stone notes and a saline, slightly tannic palate. Vermentino, a Mediterranean variety with over 7,000 hectares planted across Italy, France/Corsica and other coastal regions, shows citrus, white fruit, Mediterranean herbs and a saline, slightly phenolic finish. Rossese, native to the Dolceacqua area and genetically linked to the Tibouren family, is cultivated on just 80–100 hectares and expresses red berries, red citrus, light spices and a marked saline‑mineral imprint.
Granaccia, corresponding to Grenache/Garnacha, is grown on only 30–40 hectares in Liguria and shows just‑ripe red and black fruits, sweet spices and Mediterranean herbs, with a fresher, more maritime style than in warmer regions. Alicante, related to the same family, survives in tiny plantings of around 20 hectares. Moscato Bianco appears in 10–15 hectares and produces light, fresh, marine‑influenced wines. Other local varieties- Malvasia, Lumassina, Bianchetta Genovese, Rollo, Barbarossa, and marginal plantings of Syrah and Sangiovese contribute to a mosaic of micro‑productions, often bottled under IGTs. Even rarer whites include Cimixià, Garnaccia Bianca and Moscatello di Taggia.

The 2025 Vintage

The main attraction of the event was the premiere of the 2025 vintage, “a vintage characterised by a less‑than‑ideal climate, which caused a general drop in production of around 20%, clearly compensated by the high qualitative level.” It was a warmer and drier vintage compared to 2023–2024, though without the extremes of 2022. The expected profile shows higher ripeness, slightly lower acidity and a more Mediterranean character. Winter was mild with limited rainfall; spring arrived early with precocious budbreak; summer was warm and stable, with less rain than in 2024. Harvest took place slightly earlier, especially for Pigato and Vermentino. These conditions shaped many vineyard and cellar decisions: lower yields, stricter fruit selection and a stronger focus on final quality.

Whites (Pigato, Vermentino, Rollo) show riper fruit, more yellow‑fruit tones and less sharp citrus. The overall style is rounder, more Mediterranean and less vertical than in the 2023–2024 vintages. From a sensory perspective, three practical impressions emerged. Freshness and salinity were present, but most 2025 white samples had been bottled only recently, and some tank samples stood out for their fresh aromatic tension: citrus peel, white flowers, Mediterranean herbs and a saline finish reminiscent of the sea. Vermentino samples were way too open and floral to be judged conclusively, while Pigato already showed a clear wet‑stones imprint. TO BE RETASTED after summer.

Reds (Rossese, Granaccia) display riper fruit expression, softer tannins and slightly higher alcohol and showed compactness, fine tannins, lively acidity and a structure suited to medium-short bottle ageing. Expressive clarity prevailed: producers clearly aimed to convey terroir rather than rely on invasive winemaking techniques. Not wines built for immediate theatrics, but for substance and character, conceived to express a place rather than to impress.

The Market:

The wine market of the Riviera Ligure di Ponente is, in practice, a local market. Total production is extremely small—roughly 1.2 to 1.5 million bottles per year across all appellations and IGTs—and almost everything is consumed where it is produced. Around 70–80% of all bottles, infact, remain in Liguria, mainly between Savona, Imperia and Genoa, where restaurants and tourism absorb virtually everything that leaves the cellars. Another 15–20% goes to Piedmont, especially Turin and the Langhe. Outside these two regions, the footprint is minimal: Milan accounts for perhaps 2–3%, Rome for less than 1%, and the rest of Italy is essentially irrelevant.
Exports are symbolic. For most producers, “export” means shipping 300–600 bottles per year to one or two importers who treat the wines as regional curiosities. The only markets that consistently buy anything are Switzerland, the US East Coast, parts of Northern Europe and Japan, but always in marginal quantities—collectively less than 5% of total production. There is no structured export strategy and no international positioning.

A further structural issue is cultural: the market does not know how to wait. Local restaurants want wines from the current vintage, often bottled only weeks earlier, because tourism demands and fast turnover. As a result, many whites from the Ponente are served when they are still compressed, nervous and not fully expressive. Yet after 12–18 months in bottle, these wines improve dramatically: they become more complex, more Mediterranean, more coherent with their varietal character. The paradox is that the moment they start showing their best is exactly when the market no longer wants them, because they are perceived as “old”. This short‑term mentality prevents producers from showcasing the true potential of their wines and forces the region into an immediate‑consumption logic that does not match the nature of the grapes or their real capacity to age.

Two final observations emerged from the tasting:

First, despite differences in size and approach, the producers present shared a common line of territorial care and qualitative ambition, helped also by the strong mutual knowledge and long‑standing.

Second, the reaction of the professional audience — many of whom personally and professionally know the winemakers, a small community built on mutual trust, shared work and reciprocal promotion — highlights how this tightly connected network helps sustain the local economy, preserve identity and reinforce an exceptional km‑zero synergy between restaurants and producers, with nearly 80% of all wine sold within the area.

Best of the Tastings:

Pigato Bruna Russeghine 2024: savory, powerful and spicy with a medium persistent palate, grapefruit, ripe yellow peach

Pigato Rocca Madre La Vecchia Cantina 2024: broom, peach, aromatic herbs and resin, with pronounced acidity and sapidity, less voluminous than Bruna

Pigato e Vermentino dell’Erba 2024: rustic, delicate Mediterranean herbs and citrus, ripe lemon and citron

Pigato di Albenga Saleasco Calleri 2024: slightly golden, ripe peach, sage and vibrant freshness

Biovio Granaccia 2024: blackberries, fresh and unripe raspberries with pronounced Mediterranean freshness

Innocenzo Turco Granaccia 2024: a more authentic interpretation with greater spice and maquis, played on freshness

Best rose: BioVio 2025: dog rose and wild strawberry juice with lemon

Best Label Gen Z:

Upupunk Anfossi 2025 (Vermentino/Pigato): easy‑drinking, a nice citrus and floral balance

Ultra Rare:

Cuxii vino rosso, Il Baggio Pellegrino: intense and dark both in color and in fruit with a balance of sapidity/acidity and medium tannin

Rossese Dolceacqua Ramoino: floral, fresh and agile in tannin, acidity and drinkability

The List of winemakers:

aMaccia (Ranzo, Im)

Anfossi Luigi Blaise (Albenga, Sv)

BioVio (Albenga, Sv)

Bruna Russeghine 2024 (Ranzo, Im)

Cantine Calleri (Albenga, Sv)

Cascina Feipu dei Massaretti (Albenga, Sv)

Cascina Nirasca (Pieve di Teco, Im)

Dell'Erba (Albenga, Sv)

Distilleria Salsano (Albenga, Sv)

Enrico Dario (Albenga, Sv)

Fontanacota (Pornassio, Im)

Foresti Marco (Camporosso, Im)

Il Baggio Pellegrino (Cosio d'Arroscia, Im)

Innocenzo Turco (Quiliano, Sv)

La Rocca di Perti Mare (Finale Ligure, Sv)

La Vecchia Cantina (Albenga, Sv)

Ramoino (Chiusavecchia, Im)

RoccaVinealis (Roccavignale, Sv)

Sommariva (Albenga, Sv)

Tenuta Maffone (Pieve di Teco, Im)

Torre Pernice (Albenga, Sv)

Viticoltori Ingauni (Ortovero, Sv)

Viarzo (Quiliano, Sv)

#LiguriaWine #RivieraLigureDiPonente #Pigato #Vermentino #Rossese #Granaccia #ItalianWine #WineRegions #Viticulture #WineMarket #LocalEconomy #KmZero #ViteInRiviera #2025Vintage #WineTasting #WineProfessionals #TerroirDriven

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