5 | Wine | Sweet, Chianti, 375 ml

"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."

"Bright yellow-gold. Perfumed aromas of dried apricot, fresh papaya, hazelnut and sweet almond. Sweet and moderately rich, with lively acidity lifting the peach nectar, sultana and dried fig flavors. Finishes precise and long. One of the better Vin Santos in recent memory from Castellare, this nicely balanced wine spent five years in small oak barrels."