Donnafugata Ben Rye (375ML half-bottle) 2012

  • 95 James
    Suckling
  • 94 Robert
    Parker
  • 92 Wine
    Spectator
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Donnafugata Ben Rye (375ML half-bottle) 2012 Front Label
Donnafugata Ben Rye (375ML half-bottle) 2012 Front Label

Product Details


Varietal

Region

Producer

Vintage
2012

Size
375ML

ABV
14.3%

Your Rating

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Somm Note

Winemaker Notes

Bright amber, Ben Ryé 2012 shows an ample and round bouquet characterized by pleasant mineral hints: balsamic and salty scents combine with the classic aromas of fresh apricots and candied orange peel. Mineral notes, more intense on the palate, together with a fresh vein of acidity, enliven the caressing sweetness of this Passito di Pantelleria. A complex and rewarding wine that surprises with its very long persistence.

Pairings: Enjoy with blue or aged cheeses, with dried fruit based pastry (almond paste) and apple pies. Try it with chocolate, gianduja or ‘De Bondt Ryé' pralines. Extraordinary alone, as a meditation wine. Serve it in tulip-shaped goblets of medium size, slightly bellied; uncork at time of serving; excellent at 14° C (57° F).

Professional Ratings

  • 95

    Very concentrated with dried raisins, such as sultanas, together with toffee, candied orange and salted peanuts with shells. Full-bodied with lots of salted caramel, walnuts, very dried apricots and tangerines. Salt at the end. Dense.

  • 94
    The 2012 Passito di Pantelleria Ben Ryé is the result of a dry vintage and healthy concentration of sugars. Ben Ryé's taste profile changes enormously when you get to these younger vintages. Passito di Pantelleria is a wine that shows a very distinct jump in evolution just a few years into its aging process. Once it makes it past that first plateau, the wine then embarks on an excruciatingly slow progression that takes decades to complete. In fact, looking back at this retrospective, I can't say that any of the wines felt "old" or flat. Even the inaugural 1989 vintage is beaming with life. I have the same high expectations for this vintage.
  • 92
    A rich and mouthwatering dessert wine, with expressive baked peach, nectarine pâte de fruit, green tea, meringue and candied ginger flavors. There's real drive to this wine, and the fruit and spice notes ring out on the long finish. Drink now through 2027.

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Donnafugata

Donnafugata

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Donnafugata, Italy
Donnafugata The Art of Donnafugata Winery Video

In 1983, the experienced winegrowing couple Giacomo and Gabriella Rallo decided to invest in a new Sicilian project that they called “Donnafugata.” Their vision was to create a contemporary winegrowing operation based around three sites in western Sicily and to produce a range of international and indigenous variety wines to showcase the potential of Sicily.

Today the estate is comprised of an historic family cellar in Marsala that dates back to 1851, a 667-acre estate at Contessa Entellina planted to a diverse range of grapes, and a third cellar on the volcanic island of Pantelleria, where Donnafugata cultivates 168 acres of Zibibbo vineyards. The company employs state-of-the-art, sustainable viticulture techniques at all three estates for wines of the highest quality.

At Donnafugata, stewardship of the environment is taken as seriously as the production of wine. The winery was one of the first wineries in Italy to produce all of its electricity from solar energy, taking advantage of the bountiful Sicilian sunshine, and in 2015 the island of Pantelleria was given UNESCO certification recognizing its unique vine training method.

The name Donnafugata refers to the novel by Tomasi di Lampedusa entitled Il Gattopardo (The Leopard). A name that means “donna in fuga” (woman in flight) and refers to the story of a queen who found refuge in the part of Sicily where the company’s vineyards are located today.

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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.

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A large, geographically and climatically diverse island, just off the toe of Italy, Sicily has long been recognized for its fortified Marsala wines. But it is also a wonderful source of diverse, high quality red and white wines. Steadily increasing in popularity over the past few decades, Italy’s fourth largest wine-producing region is finally receiving the accolades it deserves and shining in today's global market.

Though most think of the climate here as simply hot and dry, variations on this sun-drenched island range from cool Mediterranean along the coastlines to more extreme in its inland zones. Of particular note are the various microclimates of Europe's largest volcano, Mount Etna, where vineyards grow on drastically steep hillsides and varying aspects to the Ionian Sea. The more noteworthy red and white Sicilian wines that come from the volcanic soils of Mount Etna include Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio (reds) and Carricante (whites). All share a racy streak of minerality and, at their best, bear resemblance to their respective red and white Burgundies.

Nero d’Avola is the most widely planted red variety, and is great either as single varietal bottling or in blends with other indigenous varieties or even with international ones. For example, Nero d'Avola is blended with the lighter and floral, Frappato grape, to create the elegant, Cerasuolo di Vittoria, one of the more traditional and respected Sicilian wines of the island.

Grillo and Inzolia, the grapes of Marsala, are also used to produce aromatic, crisp dry Sicilian white. Pantelleria, a subtropical island belonging to the province of Sicily, specializes in Moscato di Pantelleria, made from the variety locally known as Zibibbo.

YNG421146_2012 Item# 135753

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