3 | Wine | Sweet, Tuscany

"The 2003 Vin Santo del Chianti Classico Occhio di Pernice possesses rich, baritone layers of plums, dried prunes, tobacco leaves, worn-in leather, licorice and cloves. There is a deep, inner sweetness that recalls port, along with a beautifully nuanced centeredness that shimmers across the palate. Despite the warm growing season, this is anything but a precocious wine, if anything, it needs at least a few more years in the bottle!"

"The 2005 Vin Santo del Chianti Classico is a soft, delicate wine laced with orange peel, sweet spices, dried flowers and tobacco, all of which flow together nicely in a fresh, accessible style. The long, caressing finish adds to an impression of elegance."

"Knockout nose presents a smorgasbord of ripe peach, dried apricot, vanilla, marzipan, white chocolate and dried herb aromas. Then surprisingly light and linear given the opulent aromas, with noteworthy precision to the ripe peach, citrus, herb and white chocolate flavors. Finishes very smooth and long but with an obvious alcoholic warmth. Though I'm not sure this is as successful as the great Vin Santos made here in '97 or '98, this is still excellent, and its nose alone merits 95 points."

"The 2004 Vin Santo del Chianti Classico Occhio di Pernice emerges from the glass with an intriguing array of smoke, licorice, honey, scorched earth and tar, all of which add considerable complexity to the fruit. This is an exotic, full-throttle style of Vin Santo, but there is more than enough freshness to balance some of the wine’s more opulent leanings. From time to time the volatile acidity (always present in sweet wines) sticks out a bit, which is the only thing that keeps the score from going higher."