TN: Ben Ryé 2009 Passito di Pantelleria

WINE TALK
1

Ben Ryé 2009 Passito di Pantelleria – An Italian passito dessert wine made from dried Zibibbo (Moscato d’Alessandria) grapes. As you can see by the pic below, I believed that this was maderized too early in its lifecycle due to the orange-burnt sugar brown color but posters below attest to the fact that this is indeed the proper color of the wine, similar to a Greek commandaria. I have only ever seen this burnt sugar color in 10-12 year old icewine below.

The nose has burnt sugar and dried apricot aromas. On the palate, super intense flavors of dried apricots and mangos and I mean INTENSE. Seriously. This is a liquid version of dried apricots. Wow. The early maderization also adds complexity in the form of burnt sugar toffee flavors. There is also a touch of heat due to the 14.5% ABV which gives the wine a bit of a liqueur-like mouthfeel. Finish lasts extremely long. I would love to see and taste a version of this wine in prime condition. I have an 08 and 10 version of this wine and look forward to trying them. RECOMMENDED
Ben Ryé.jpg

2

You know they dry the grapes for that on black obsidian lava flows, yes? “Too early” is a matter of tradition, this is not Madeira, it is Pantelleria.

LOVELY stuff!

3

Hey Roberto,

I didn’t know that. So you’re saying that this is the correct color of the wine? Or it actually was maderized but an appropriate time?

4

Yes, that is the correct color for that wine. Some other producers make even darker ones.

5

I really like that wine. A civilian friend of our emailed that she was bringing a bottle of Ben Rye over to a dinner party, and I thought that meant a bottle of rye whisky, but it turned out to be some recent vintage of this wine, and we really enjoyed it.

6

The Ben Ryé is outstanding, year in year out. I also love a similar Pantelleria dessert wine you may want to seek out, the Hauner Malvasia delle Lipari. Maybe Roberto carries these, not sure.

7

Thanks for the note, Tran - I’ve got a couple bottles of the '11 in the cellar, but haven’t checked one out yet.

8

Yes, this is the color of the wine. I’ve enjoyed many vintages of Ben Ryé. Donnafugata really has a winner with thsi wine. I had one this past weekend. As you experienced, it’s an apricot explosion. But it does take one some other fruit and some nutty qualities as well. It is a dessert wine that can also double as the dessert itself.

9

How’s the acidity?

10

Thanks Tran for introducing me to a new wine. I ordered a 375ml of 2011 from K&L RWC. Apricots are my favorite fruit and if this has it in spades, I am there. Now if they could just get some lychee in it. Thanks again.

11

While words like plentiful or abundant would be a stretch, adequate under-describes it. There’s a nice brightness to the wine that the color belies.

12

Tran, we had the 2011 Ben Rye tonight and it was enjoyed by all. Apricots in every corner of this wine. Went back for three more. I am not sure what happens with time, but this is drinking wonderfully now. Accessible, approachable today. Thank you for the introduction.

13

Ah, two shoutouts in a row over the same wine. Thanks Steve. My mission to convert this board from Burgundy and Bordeaux fanatics to sweet wine fanatics proceeds ahead one convert at a time. [cheers.gif]

14

I have enjoyed this wine both in Italy and DC (it was on the list at Ripple at some point btg).

Note to non-Italians…the second word is pronounced REEE-AAA; it would rhyme with the last two letters of CPA.

15

Thanks for the pronunciation reminder, Cole.
The first time I saw this on a list years ago I was thinking it sounded like a Jura rye whiskey!

16

How long lived are these typically?

17

The Hauner seems harder to find in the US, but it is excellent. It goes with pineapple pie or cake like you can’t believe. I have quite a bit of both Ben Rye and Hauner, as my wife likes them, too.

18

Forever…

19

Good, I have a stash of '06 and '07 that have been out of sight, out of mind. I’ll tap into them this fall.