Umani Ronchi CaSal di Serra Verdicchio 2019

When it came time to start looking for summer wines, I went back to the well that was so good to us last year. With restaurants closed, we were able to snag Bisci Verdicchio, a little white wine that went nuts and was one of our most re-ordered wines in history. But this year, with restaurants back online, our allocation for Bisci took a pretty big hit.

No problem, I thought. I’ll just find another crisp, mineral laced Verdicchio to offer up to the Nicholas faithful. That proved to be a bit more difficult than I thought. The first six I tried weren’t of the same caliber, neither were any in the next six. One of them was probably there in quality but I would’ve had to offer it for $30. Don’t worry, I saved you the time of turning it down.

But in my third line up I finally struck gold. I mean, I really struck gold.

Look, am I fiery? Can I be confrontational? Yes and yes. But do I ever say things just to stir the pot? That aint really my style. So I’m not saying this lightly but it is a matter of one man’s opinion… This Verdicchio from Umani Ronchi isn’t as good as Bisci, it’s better.

I know that Thomas Keller isn’t pouring this one at French Laundry or Daniel Humm at EMP… but this wine is absolutely lights out– a flawless white wine. Don’t take my word for it– critics love it too. It has a 91pt Editors’ Choice rating from Enthusiast, a matching 91 from James Suckling and a 90 from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate who declared, “you don’t get better value than this”. But they’re all right– you don’t. Anywhere.