I had dinner at August in NOLA last night.
Really wonderful anniversary meal. Many thanks to all the folks there.
Erin White the somm hooked me up with the most interesting dessert wine I have had in some time.
It is made from a grape called Zibibbo in Sicily. A pic is below.
2013 Ben Rye Passito di Pantelleria Sicily (Zibibbo)
The smell is of the purest apricot nectar. The first taste reminds me of the intensity of Essensia. The fruit is pure apricot with an electric acid spine that makes the wine take off. Very long. Very pure flavor of fruit. The mouthfeel is light compared with the intensity of the flavors. Absolutely stunning! For the tariff, it is an extraordinary value. I would take this over Essensia.
I haven’t tasted this or any recent vintage, but this is usually a wonderful version of the passito di Pantelleria. Another producer worth trying is Ferrandes (www.ferrandes.com).
By the way the name of the grape is Zibibbo (clearly the italianization of an arab word), which is aka Muscat of Alexandria.
Don - Thanks for the information and Happy Anniversary. Just looked it up, says grown throughout Aegean region, North Africa as well. AKA “Muscat of Alexandria” as well as numerous other names.
I have been drinking some Sicilian wines of late, decent selection at Ansley Wine. But they have all been red. A white that is exceptional is news to me. And you good Doctor comparing it in any way to Essencia is high praise indeed. Thank you for the note.
Thanks for all the information here. I wasn’t kidding about this wine being as good as Essencia in many ways. The intensity of flavor here is remarkable. Great wine.
Shared a 375ml bottle of the 2012 Ben Rye at Voglia di Vino in Alba just last week – what a delight! Was a fantastic complement to some desserts and a great way to cap a lovely casual dinner. Immediately sought some out upon my return so that I can stash some in the cellar, as I’ll indeed bet they age well…
One of the if not THE best Passito di Pantelleria being made. Most others I’ve tried have been disappointingly high on the alcohol but low on the Muscat flavor – I find Beaume de Venise to be the same – but the Ben Ryé is the exact opposite. Just bursting with the aforementioned apricot flavor, intense and very vivid. Really an achievement of an Italian dessert wine and somewhat underappreciated. If you can find some, get some.
And a note to the non-Italian speakers: it’s pronounced (more or less) Ben RHEE-AY. The second word has two syllables. As noted above, a lovely wine and with pretty good distribution.
If you do speak Italian, then you know most Italians do pronounce double consonants (“le doppie”) differently than single consonants, though this is often hard for non-native speakers. Something close to ZIB-eeb-bo for this spelling. And the grape was allegedly brought from Egypt to Sicily (and thereabouts) by the Phoenicians.