Pieropan Recioto Di Soave Colombare 2004
Fruit Wine
from Veneto, Italy
winemaker's notes:
This dessert wine is obtained from the shrivelled "recie" ("ears" in the venetian dialect) of choice Garganega grapes, the top part of each bunch, with the ripest and best exposed berries. The bunches are laid out on traditional straw mats, in well aired room for few months.
In early spring, the semi-dried grapes are pressed, and the resulting wine is aged in oak barrels for two years. Intense gold, almost amber coloured, delicately reminiscent of exotic fruit and apricots on the nose, its initial impression on the palate is delicately sweet, a prelude to pleasing and unexpected aromatic complexity.
Excellent on its own or at the end of a meal, to accompany almond pastries, blue cheese such as gorgonzola, or mature cheeses.
critical acclaim:
"The 2004 Recioto di Soave Le Colombare is Garganega that is air-dried for several months prior to being vinified and then aged in French oak. This sumptuous dessert wine flows from the glass with honey, flowers, dried figs, apricots, candied orange peel and a multitude of aromas and flavors that engage the senses in stunning style. Le Colombare is a great wine to match with cheeses. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2014.
This is another strong showing from Pieropan, one of the reference-point producer for the wines of Soave."
93 Points
The Wine Advocate
"Made from garganega grapes that are air dried then fermented and aged in oak for two years, this is beguiling in its rich balance of savory and sweet, a compelling, intensely structured dessert wine. Initial flavors or smoked apple and spiced plum shift with air, becoming white peach and apricot, with an edge of minerality. The best part is the finish, which feels like it could last forever."
93 Points
Wine & Spirits
"Beautiful and luminous, this amber-colored Recioto di Soave is generous and opulent. Its many aromatic layers include apricot, honey, toasted almond and butterscotch. It has rich sweetness and enough tingling acidity to tickle your tongue and keep the palate refreshed. "
92 Points
Wine Enthusiast
