Gaja Ca Marcanda, Toscana IGT Vistamare, 2024

Gaja goes coastal. When Angelo Gaja landed in Bolgheri in 1996, he was best known for transforming Barbaresco, but Ca' Marcanda has since become its own Tuscan landmark. Vistamare is the estate's salt-air white, a near-even split of Vermentino and Viognier with Fiano filling out the blend (2024 is ~40% Vermentino, ~40% Viognier, ~20% Fiano) that translates the Tyrrhenian shoreline into the glass. The 2024 the Vermentino ferments and ages in stainless steel; the Viognier ferments and ages in oak; varieties are blended after six months, just enough to round the texture without dulling the cut. Expect orchard fruit and white flowers wrapped around a saline, herb-flecked core. The name means "sea view," and the wine delivers exactly that: bright, energetic, unmistakably Mediterranean, and food-ready from the first sip.