Borgo del Tiglio Collio Sauvignon 2013 Collio, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy 75cl

Borgo del Tiglio, in the Collio hills at Cormòns, is one of the reference points for Italian white wine. Nicola Manferrari, a pharmacist by training, took over the family vineyards and bottled his first wines in 1982, earning a reputation for whites of unusual depth and precision.

His Sauvignon reflects that patient, low-intervention approach. Yields are kept low, the vineyards are worked without fertiliser, and in the cellar Manferrari lets gravity and the Collio’s marl-and-sandstone soils do the talking. The result is a Sauvignon built for texture and length rather than the loud, green aromatics the grape is often known for, a wine that rewards attention rather than shouting for it.

The 2013 now carries real bottle age, and time has drawn the wine towards its savoury, tertiary side, so it is best understood as a white wine of place first and a varietal second. This is Sauvignon for people who think they have the grape figured out.

Expect a golden glass and a complex nose of preserved lemon, citrus peel, dried herbs and a stony minerality. The palate is dry and textural, with gentle weight, fine acidity and a long, savoury finish. Serve it in a decent glass, not too cold, so its aromatics have room to open.

This is a food wine through and through, at home with scallops, richer fish, roast chicken or a plate of prosciutto. It has the substance to carry a main course rather than sit politely to one side. If you enjoy white Bordeaux or a good white Burgundy, an aged Collio Sauvignon like this speaks the same serious, gastronomic language.