Riserva Vernaccia di Oristano

Oldest one I’ve ever had. Dizzying and complex nose that defies its age. Mandarin orange that has slight torrefaction. Unreal caramel, bitter sweet cocoa, elegant and constantly unfurling. The citrus fruit is crazy on the nose. Wonderful airiness. Minerals galore. Ocean breeze. Unreal complexity and so graceful. Wow. 9.8 nose. Just insane. Complex and concentrated with wake you up acidity and just lovely salty/caramel freshness. Elegant and refined and just so complex. Had some dental work this week and man my gums are reminding me after a sip of this. Unreal finish and coats the palate but lively and so salty. This is genius! With air the nose gets so honeyed with God’s caramel.

9.6 to 9.7 overnight. Just so elegant, refined and long. Infinite complexity. This is harmony that only comes with being 43 years old.

Ah-mazing. Nose is just gorgeous. Honey, marmalade, nougat, spice with just the craziest lift. So much saltiness. So much sea air. So complex. Dizzying. 9.7 nose. Nuttiness. The delicate nature of these wines is remarkable. Honeyed and rich but such bright acidity and unreal texture. Nutty, citrus, spice all on a pillowy texture. So long. Nose has like .5% VA that adds so much. Truly special. Just was tasting the 97 which was opened on Saturday and wow do these wines improve with air. I’ll be back for sure. There’s a sweet caramel thing on the finish now. With salt. So juicy, complex and concentrated. Wow.

Easily one of the great wines of Italy. Like a cross between Jerez and Chateau Chalon. 18%. Nose has orange/chocolate liqueur, exotic spices, pound cake, minor ethanol (hello 18%), white raspberry, white chocolate, bittersweet cocoa and more. Enormously complex and wafting aromas. Could be a bit colder but always a challenge finding the right temperature to serve these at. Palate is juicy and invigorating with such finesse and a fruit skin complexity. Very concentrated but man what finesse here and just the silkiest texture. Long. Super long. Nose starts to develop sawdust, tree bark and orange rind. The elegance stands out so much and how nimble and light on its feet it is. Always spectacular, delicious and distinctive. Brilliant. Nose develops a honey/sweet truffle thing now with sweet saddle leather as well. Marmalade.

Drinking something unique and old like this is often a joy. But, I’d put this in the interesting but not delicious category. Brown like a Solera sherry, I can really only imagine this wine working in a haute cuisine pairing. Or in Sardinia on a cliff overlooking the sea, eating fried fish or some pecorino with tartufo and nuts as an antipasto.

A balanced sweet dessert wine.

MICHAEL had this a year ago

Thomas had this 8 years ago

Josef had this 7 years ago

Aravind had this a year ago