Andriano Gewürztraminer Passito Juvelo Alto Adige DOC 2023 (375ml) *

Passito is the art of concentration, grapes left to shrivel until sugar and flavor intensify, and here that technique is applied to Gewürztraminer, the aromatic grape most associated with Alto Adige. This bottling comes from Cantina Andriano in the Sudtirol, fruit grown on gravel soils studded with white dolomite rock at a cool 530 meters. After a brief three hours of skin contact and a gentle press, the wine ferments and ages eleven months in barrique, a slow build toward a sweet wine with structure behind it.

Expect a bright orange to amber color in the glass and a nose that plays sweet against sour: dried orange peel, honey, and the soft sweetness of canned peach. That tension is what keeps a dessert wine from turning cloying, and it is what gives this one its lift. Pour it cold, alongside fruit tarts or a plate of aged cheese, or simply on its own after dinner.