Cimaio 2014, Marche IGT Bianco, Casalfarneto

If there was ever a wine deemed to be called 'remarkable', it's this one!

Grown from 100% Verdicchio grapes in Casalfarneto's own vineyards in the centre of the Marche region in Italy, this is a wine of remarkable structure and elegance, soft, wrapping, extremely pleasant and with distinctive aromatic notes.

The most extraordinary feature of the wine is that the grapes are harvested in an advanced state of ripening (end of November, beginning of December) when, in favorable years, all the grapes have been wrapped in noble rot (botrytis cinerea). Like some of the other rare wines made in this way, like the famous Hungarian Tokay Azù, French Sélection de grains nobles or German Trockenbeerenauslese, these wines are highly structured, very soft and amiable. The main difference is that Cimacio is left to macerate until almost all of the sugars are gone, resulting in a relatively dry wine with a very high alcohol content of 14 - 14,5%.

The “vinification” process occurs half in small wooden barrels and the rest in steel tanks. The refining process takes six months in steel and wood tanks, then another six months in steel tanks and finally 12 to 18 months in bottles.

The result is a wine with amazing golden color, exuding sweet scents of vanilla followed by mature notes of ripe pears, honey, almond, and spiced nuances, with white pepper and nutmeg. In the mouth, it emerges its full body structure with prevailing notes of dried fruits with raisins, apricots and black prunes. Mineral, slightly bitter, but rounded, soft, warm and savory – very persistent.

Cimaio is a wine that can be enjoyed on its own as a 'meditation' wine, but will also go well with very mature and dried cheeses like overaged Gouda, or with very savory and very pronounced dishes like foie gras or even a Thai chili dish.

In the Netherlands, Cimaio can be obtained via Vinissimo.