The Comm. G.B. Burlotto 2021 Verduno Pelaverga is a wonderful wine and so much fun. It opens to a bright ruby color with immediate aromas of white pepper, oregano and thyme that tickle your nose. Pelaverga is distinguished by these very zesty and punchy aromas. You could pair this wine with vitello tonnato (a local specialty), codfish, spicy sashimi and so much more. I suggest you serve it slightly chilled. This wine is always a special treat (and a terrific value too).

The 2020 Verduno Pelaverga is spicy and tight with those characteristic white pepper aromas that make it so much fun to drink and to discuss. The wine is lean on the palate, with plenty of easy freshness to keep the momentum and the conversation going. This is one of the best values to come out of Piedmont.

This is one of the wines I most look forward to tasting during my annual Barolo report. Electric and invigorating, the Comm. G.B. Burlotto 2019 Verduno Pelaverga is the proverbial shock to the senses, especially considering how much this unique grape stands out in its Nebbiolo-focused environment. The wine pours from the bottle with a lean ruby appearance, and it offers enormous, albeit monotone, aromatic intensity. What you get here is a big dose of white pepper twisted freshly out of one of those long, wooden restaurant mills. There is some subtle cassis and wild fruit, but those peppery tones are center stage. This production of 18,000 bottles is very unique and won't possibly appeal to all, but I have an admitted soft spot for Pelaverga and am honored to spread the word.

The 2018 Verduno Pelaverga is a red wine with pure white characteristics. I'm thinking white pepper corn, white rose, white chocolate and even vodka-like aromas from the deep inner territory of Russia. There is a dusty character to this wine, with extra pepper, that adds to the food-friendly appeal of this rare indigenous grape. Production stands at about 18,000 bottles.

The Pelaverga grape gets high scores for being so darn simpatico. This Italian variety is rich in a compound called rotundone, which is a sesquiterpene ketone and part of the monoterpene family. It can be found in Syrah, Vespolino, Grüner Veltliner, Riesling and Cabernet Sauvignon. To most of us, it is identified as a huge whiff of freshly milled white pepper. Others link it to the smell of thyme or marjoram. Geekiness aside, this is fascinating to me because I so often find those white pepper aromas related to rotundone within Italy's large patrimony of indigenous grapes. It is such a specific and easily identifiable smell. The 2016 Verduno Pelaverga offers it in high doses. It is what makes this wine so special. Besides the crushed white pepper, you get forest fruit, pressed violets, wild strawberry and moist earth. This is an easy-drinking wine to consume within the next few years.