La Giochessa Vermentino
Where football meets wine!
Reading Time: 4 mins
La Giochessa is the Vermentino of Le Vigne di Silvia, a family winery in Bolgheri run by the sisters Silvia and Stefania Fuselli. Its name is a Tuscan word for a football dribble, a tribute to Silvia’s career on the pitch, and this is its story.
Le Vigne di Silvia is an exceptional estate situated in the Bolgheri appellation, which I mentioned a few weeks ago, along the Tuscan coast.
This is a winery I am very fond of, as it is a family estate run by two very inspirational women I happened to meet along my journey.
During my last winery tour and tasting at their estate with a couple of friends from Dallas, Texas, I had the opportunity to taste their “La Giochessa,” a Vermentino-based wine with a hint of Verdicchio, a native white variety from Le Marche, which is the Italian region where this family originally comes from. A tribute to heritage and tradition, therefore.
Besides the beautiful expression that this variety has in this unique coastal area of Tuscany, this wine offers a very interesting story behind its label.
Silvia Fuselli, one of the owners and craftswomen of the estate, has always had two very dear passions: football and winemaking. She spent 25 years of her life playing on national and international football fields as a striker and midfielder. After this long period dedicated to this sport, she decided to nurture her second fondest passion, which is winemaking!
She decided to carry on and take care of her father’s farm, previously dedicated to vegetable growing, transforming it into a winery with her sister, Stefania, delivering to this day impeccable wines that truly resemble the Tuscan spirit and terroir.
Among their niche portfolio, we find “La Giochessa,” which is a Tuscan term used to describe the action of dribbling or an imaginative feint that allows you to evade opponents on the football field. As a tribute to Silvia’s football career, this label La Giochessa Vermentino is the best way to fuse her two passions together!
This wine appears in the glass with a beautiful straw yellow color, brilliant and clear. Its particular production procedure, with fermentation taking place in stainless steel tanks and in French oak barrels, 50% of which are first use and the rest second use, gives it a strong and robust personality along with strong fruit and a touch of aromatic herbs such as thyme and sage. It has an impressive palate with mineral freshness and a firm finish.
On the nose, it is rich with fruity notes, sage and thyme hints as well, and vanilla undertones. It’s a fresh and elegant wine, rich in typical mineral notes, giving this Vermentino great drinkability and a pleasant long finish. Excellent as an aperitif, the typical Italian glass of wine before a meal, as well as paired with fish, shellfish, and white meat dishes. Surprisingly for a white, it’s also ideal for prolonged aging in the bottle, perfect for storing in your cellar! La Giochessa joined one of my past Toscana Wine Club selections; to receive wines like this at home, explore the memberships. And if you are curious about their red, read the story of the day I finally met Artemio.
Would you like to taste wines like La Giochessa where they are born, or receive them at home? Take a look at my winery tours in Tuscany and at the Toscana Wine Club memberships.
By Claudia Callegari, DipWSET Level 4 Certified sommelier. I lead private wine tastings at Tuscan villas, visits to small wineries and the Toscana Wine Club.
Reviewed and updated on October 20, 2026.