Winemaker Notes
Adding a unique twist to the traditional method of producing the island’s famous dessertwine, a portion of the hand-picked grapes are dried in the shade in order to maintain arelative fruity freshness. The remaining grapes are sundried for 12-14 days. The raisinatedgrapes are then pressed and undergo fermentation in oak barrels previously used for whitewines. The wine is aged for 10 years, then bottled without fining or filtration.
An exceptional dessert wine, with prolonged oak aging for greater depth and character.Deep amber in color with complex aromas of coffee, dates, raisins, plums, dried figs andhoney. The rich texture on the palate is balanced by the charateristic high acidity of theAssyrtiko, giving this dessert wine a vibrantly sweet character.
Enjoy this rich vinsanto with dark chocolate and chocolate based desserts.
Apart from the classics, we find many regional gems of different styles.
Late harvest wines are probably the easiest to understand. Grapes are picked so late that the sugars build up and residual sugar remains after the fermentation process. Ice wine, a style founded in Germany and there referred to as eiswein, is an extreme late harvest wine, produced from grapes frozen on the vine, and pressed while still frozen, resulting in a higher concentration of sugar. It is becoming a specialty of Canada as well, where it takes on the English name of ice wine.
Vin Santo, literally “holy wine,” is a Tuscan sweet wine made from drying the local white grapes Trebbiano Toscano and Malvasia in the winery and not pressing until somewhere between November and March.
Rutherglen is an historic wine region in northeast Victoria, Australia, famous for its fortified Topaque and Muscat with complex tawny characteristics.
